UC-NRLF 


M7    111 


GIFT  OF 


ROLLO  IN   LONDON 


BY 


JACOB  ABBOTT. 


BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED   BY   TAGGARD   AND   THOMPSON 

M  DCCC  LXIV. 


Bntere<J,  aeeorcfme  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  I8M,  by 

JACOB  ABBOTT, 
la  the  Clerk's  Office  of  fee  District  Court  of  the  District  ef  Maesockusctts. 


STB  R1WTT  PJ5J>    AT     THB 

eottov  STKKKO-FYI-E  rovK»*7. 

RIVERSIDE,  CAMBRIDGE: 
PRINTED    BT    H.    0.    HOOGHTOM 


OKDER  OF  THE  VOLUMES 

ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 
HOLLO  IN  PARIS. 
ROLLO  IN  SWITZERLAND. 
ROLLO  IN  LONDON. 
ROLLO  ON  THE  RHINE. 
ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 
ROLLO  IN  GENEVA. 
ROLLO  IN  HOLLAND. 
ROLLO  IN  NAPLES. 
ROLLO  IN  ROME. 


PRINCIPAL  PERSONS  OP  THE  STORY. 

ROLLO  ;  twelve  years  of  age. 

MR.  and  MRS.  HOLIDAY  ;  Rollo's  father  and  mother,  travelling  in 

Europe. 

THANNY  ;  Rollo's  younger  brother. 
JANE  ;  Rollo's  cousin,  adopted  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday. 
MR.  GEORGE  ;  a  young  gentleman,  Rollo's  uncle. 


438886 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER 

I.  —  CITY  AND  TOWN,         .  ...    13 

II. — LONDON  BRIDGE, 20 

III.  — THE  RIVER, 45 

IV.— THE  POLICEMAN, 55 

V.  —  LODGINGS, 66 

VI.  —  BREAKFAST,         ....  .    74 

VII.  —  WESTMINSTER  ABBEY, 80 

VIII.  —  CALCULATIONS, 98 

IX.  — ST.  PAUL'S, 107 

X. —  THE  DOME  OF  ST.  PAUL'S,        .        .        .        .126 

XI.  —  THE  ARISTOCRACY, 142 

XII.  —  A  MISFORTUNE, 159 

XIII.  —  PHILOSOPHY,        ...  ...  164 

XIV.  — THE  DOCKS, 173 

XV,  — THE  EMIGRANTS, 191 

XVI.  —  THE  TUNNEL  AND  THE  TOWEB,       .       .       .214 


ENGRAVINGS. 


FRONTISPIECE. 

THE  PARK, .12 

MAP  OP  LONDON 15 

THE  FIRST  RAGGED  SCHOOL, 43 

SHOOTING  THE  BRIDGE, 50 

THE  ARREST, 58 

BREAKFAST 78 

GROUND  PLAN  OF  WESTMINSTER  ABBEY,     ...  84 

ST.  PAUL'S, .119 

THE  WHISPERING  GALLERY, 128 

THE  Loss  MADE  GOOD, 171 

SAVED 176 

PLEASANT  WEATHEB, 196 

THE  STORM, 198 

THE  WRECK, 201 

SHOPPING  TN  THE  TUNNEL,  .                 v        .        .        .  220 

(10) 


ROLLO  IN  LONDON. 

CHAPTER    I. 
CITY    AN  D    T  OWN  . 

London.  Its  two  heads. 

*  *  TTTHICH  London  shall  we  visit  first?  " 
T  Y  said  Mr.  George  to  Rollo. 

"Why,"  rejoined  Rollo,  surprised,  "are  there 
two  of  them  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  We  may  almost 
say  there  are  two  of  them.  Or,  at  any  rate, 
there  are  two  heads  to  the  monster,  though  the 
immense  mass  forms  but  one  body." 

While  Mr.  George  was  saying  these  words 
Rollo  had  been  standing  on  the  step  of  the  rail 
way  car  and  looking  in  at  the  window  towards 
his  uncle  George,  who  was  inside.  Just  at  this 
time,  however,  the  conversation  was  interrupted 
by  the  sound  of  the  bell,  denoting  that  the  train 
was  about  to  start.  So  Rollo  jumped  down 
from  the  step  and  ran  back  to  his  own  car,  which 
was  a  second-class  car,  two  behind  the  one 

(13) 


.'<  '  :  B  -b  ii  i.  p  ]  ,I.N  .CONDON. 


The  City.  The  West  End. 

where  Mr.  George  was  sitting.  He  had  scarce 
ly  got  to  his  seat  before  the  whistle  of  the  con 
ductor  sounded  and  the  train  began  to  move. 
As  it  trundled  along  out  of  the  station,  gradually 
increasing  its  speed  as  it  advanced,  Rollo  sat 
wondering  what  his  uncle  meant  by  the  double- 
headed  character  which  he  had  assigned  to 
the  monstrous  city  that  they  were  going  to 
see. 

What  is  commonly  called  London  does  in 
fact  consist,  as  Mr.  George  had  said,  of  two 
great  cities,  entirely  diverse  from  each  other, 
and  completely  distinct  —  each  being,  in  its 
way,  the  richest,  the  grandest,  and  the  most 
powerful  capital  in  the  world. 

One  of  these  twin  capitals  is  the  metropolis 
of  commerce  ;  the  other  is  that  of  political  and 
military  power. 

The  first  is  called  the  City. 

The  second  is  called  the  West  End. 

Both  together  —  with  the  immense  region  of 
densely-peopled  streets  and  squares  which  con 
nect  and  surround  them  —  constitute  what  is 
generally  called  London. 

The  city  was  the  original  London.  The  West 
End  was  at  first  called  Westminster.  The  rela 
tive  position  of  these  two  centres  may  be  seen 
by  the  following  map  :  — 


CITY   AND    TOWN. 


15 


Map  of  London. 


Westminster. 


The  city  —  which  was  the  original  London  — 
is  the  most  ancient.  It  was  founded  long  before 
the  days  of  the  Romans  ;  so  long,  in  fact,  that 
its  origin  is  wholly  unknown.  Nor  is  any  thing 
known  in  respect  to  the  derivation  or  meaning 
of  the  name.  In  regard  to  Westminster,  the 
name  is  known  to  come  from  the  word  minster, 
which  means  cathedral  —  a  cathedral  church 
having  been  built  there  at  a  very  early  period, 
and  which,  lying  west  of  London  as  it  did,  was 
called  the  West  Minster.  This  church  passed 
through  a  great  variety  of  mutations  during  the 
lapse  of  successive  centuries,  having  grown  old, 


16  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  Abbey.  The  Strand. 

and  been  rebuilt,  and  enlarged,  and  pulled  down, 
and  rebuilt  again,  and  altered,  times  and  ways 
without  number.  It  is  represented  in  the  pres 
ent  age  by  the  venerable  monumental  pile  —  the 
burial-place  of  the  ancient  kings,  and  of  the 
most  distinguished  nobles,  generals,  and  states 
men  of  the  English  monarchy  —  known  through 
all  the  world  as  Westminster  Abbey. 

After  a  time,  when  England  became  at  length 
one  kingdom,  the  king  built  his  palace,  and  es 
tablished  his  parliament,  and  opened  his  court 
in  Westminster,  not  far  from  the  abbey.  The 
place,  being  about  three  miles  from  the  city,  was 
very  convenient  for  this  purpose.  In  process  of 
time  public  edifices  were  erected,  and  noble 
men's  houses  and  new  palaces  for  the  king  or 
for  other  members  of  the  royal  family  were 
built,  and  shops  were  set  up  for  the  sale  of  such 
things  as  the  people  of  the  court  might  wish  to 
buy,  and  streets  and  squares  were  laid  out ; 
and,  in  fine,  Westminster  became  gradually  quite 
an  extended  and  famous  town.  It  was  still,  how 
ever,  entirely  distinct  from  London,  being  about 
three  miles  from  it,  farther  up  the  river.  The 
principal  road  from  London  to  Westminster  fol 
lowed  the  margin  of  the  water,  and  was  called  the 
Strand.  Towards  Westminster  the  road  diverged 
from  the  river  so  as  to  leave  a  space  between 


CITY   AND   TOWN.  17 

Palaces  of  the  English  nobility.  Boat  houses. 

wide  enough  for  houses  ;  and  along  this  space  the 
great  nobles  from  time  to  time  built  magnificent 
palaces  around  great  square  courts,  where  they 
could  ride  in  under  an  archway.  The  fronts  of 
these  palaces  were  towards  the  road ;  and  there 
were  gardens  behind  them,  leading  down  to  the 
water.  At  the  foot  of  the  garden  there  was 
usually  a  boat  house  and  a  landing,  where  the 
people  who  lived  in  the  palace  or  their  friends 
could  embark  on  board  boats  for  excursions  on 
the  Thames. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  Westminster  was 
thus  becoming  a  large  and  important  town,  Lon 
don  itself,  three  miles  farther  down  the  river,  was 
also  constantly  growing  too,  in  its  own  way,  as 
a  town  of  merchants  and  artisans.  Other  vil 
lages,  too,  began  to  spring  up  in  every  direction 
around  these  great  centres  ;  and  London  and 
Westminster,  gradually  spreading,  finally  met 
each  other,  and  then,  extending  on  each  side, 
gradually  swallowed  up  these  villages,  until 
now  the  whole  region,  for  five  or  six  miles  in 
every  direction  from  the  original  centres,  forms 
one  mighty  mass  of  streets,  squares,  lanes, 
courts,  terraces,  all  crowded  with  edifices  and 
thronged  with  population.  In  this  mass  all  vis 
ible  distinction  between  the  several  villages 
which  have  been  swallowed  up  is  entirely  lost, 
2 


18  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  city  and  the  West  End.  Their  character. 

though  the  two  original  centres  remain  as  wide 
ly  separated  and  as  distinct  as  ever.  The  pri 
meval  London  has,  however,  lost  its  exclusive 
right  to  its  name,  and  is  now  simply  called 
the  city ;  and  in  the  same  manner  "Westminster 
is  called  the  West  End,  and  sometimes  the 
town  /  while  the  name  London  is  used  to  de 
note  the  whole  of  the  vast  conglomeration 
which  envelops  and  includes  the  two  original 
capitals. 

The  city  and  the  West  End,  though  thus  swal 
lowed,  as  it  were,  in  the  general  metropolis,  are 
still  entirely  distinct.  They  are  in  fact,  in  some 
respects,  even  more  widely  distinct  from  each 
other  now  than  ever.  Each  is,  in  its  own  way, 
at  the  head  of  its  class  of  cities.  The  city  is 
the  greatest  and  wealthiest  mart  of  com 
merce  in  the  world :  while  the  West  End  is 
the  seat  and  centre  of  the  proudest  and  most 
extended  political  and  military  power.  In  fact, 
the  commercial  organization  which  centres  in 
the  city,  and  the  military  one  which  has  its  head 
quarters  around  the  throne  at  the  West  End, 
are  probably  the  greatest  and  most  powerful 
organizations,  each  of  its  kind,  that  the  world 
has  ever  known. 

Mr.  George  explained  all  this  to  Rollo  as 
they  walked  together  away  from  the  London 


CITY    AND    TOWN. 


19 


Reaching  London. 


Bridge  station,  where  the  train  in  which  they 
came  in  from  the  south  stopped  when  it  reached 
London.  But  I  will  give  a  more  detailed 
account  of  their  conversation  in  the  next 
chapter. 


20  HOLLO    IN    LONDON. 


How  the  passengers  leave  the  cars  on  an  English  railway. 


CHAPTER   II. 
LONDON   BRIDGE. 

WHEN  the  train  stopped  at  what  is  called 
the  London  Bridge  station,  the  passengers  all 
stepped  out  of  their  respective  cars  upon  the 
platform.  In  the  English  cars  the  doors  are  at 
the  sides,  and  not,  as  in  America,  at  the  ends  ;  so 
that  the  passengers  get  out  nearly  all  at  once, 
and  the  platform  becomes  immediately  crowded. 
Beyond  the  platform,  on  the  other  side,  there  is 
usually,  when  a  train  comes  in,  a  long  row  of 
cabs  and  carriages  drawn  up,  ready  to  take  the 
passengers  from  the  several  cars  ;  so  that  the 
traveller  has  generally  nothing  to  do  but  to  step 
across  the  platform  from  the  car  that  he  came 
in  to  the  cab  that  is  waiting  there  to  receive 
him.  Nor  is  there,  as  is  usual  in  America,  any 
difficulty  or  delay  in  regard  to  the  baggage  ; 
for  each  man's  trunks  are  placed  on  the  car  that 
he  rides  in,  directly  over  his  head  ;  so  that,  while 
he  walks  across  the  platform  to  the  cab,  the 
railway  porter  takes  his  trunk  across  and 


LONDON   BRIDGE.  21 

The  railway  porters.  Worth  of  the  English  penny. 

places  it  t:n  the  top  of  the  cab  ;  and  thus  he  is 
off  from  the  station  in  his  cab  within  two  min 
utes  sometimes  after  he  arrived  at  it  in  the  car. 
The  railway  porters,  who  attend  to  the  busi 
ness  of  transferring  the  passengers  thus  from 
the  railway  carriages  to  those  of  the  street,  are 
very  numerous  all  along  the  platform  ;  and  they 
are  very  civil  and  attentive  to  the  passengers, 
especially  to  those  who  come  in  the  first-class 
cars  —  and  more  especially  still,  according  to 
my  observation  and  experience,  if  the  traveller 
has  an  agreeable  looking  lady  under  his  charge. 
The  porters  are  dressed  in  a  sort  of  uniform,  by 
which  they  are  readily  distinguished  from  the 
crowd.  They  are  strictly  forbidden  to  receive 
any  fee  or  gratuity  from  the  passengers.  This 
prohibition,  however,  does  not  prevent  their 
taking  very  thankfully  the  shillings  or  six 
pences  *  that  are  often  offered  them,  particular 
ly  by  Americans,  who,  being  strangers  in  the 
country,  and  not  understanding  the  customs  very 


*  Whenever  shillings  or  sixpences  are  mentioned  in  this  book, 
English  coin  is  meant.  As  a  general  rule,  each  English  denomi 
nation  is  of  double  the  value  of  the  corresponding  American  one. 
Thus  the  English  penny  is  a  coin  as  large  as  a  silver  dollar,  and 
it  is  worth  two  of  the  American  pennies.  The  shilling  is  of  the 
value  of  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  ;  and  a  sixpence  is  equal  to  a  New 
York  shilling. 


22  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  porter  and  the  policeman.    An  action  that  spoke  louder  than  words. 

well,  think  that  they  require  a  little  more  atten- 
tioi  than  others,  and  so  are  willing  to  pay  a 
little  extra  fee.  It  is,  however,  contrary  to  the 
rules  of  the  station  for  the  porters  to  receive 
any  thing  ;  and,  if  they  take  it  at  all,  they  try 
to  do  it  as  secretly  as  possible.  I  once  knew  a 
traveller  who  offered  a  porter  a  shilling  openly 
on  the  platform  ;  but  the  porter,  observing  a 
policeman  near,  turned  round  with  his  side  to 
the  gentleman,  and,  holding  his  hand  open  be 
hind  him,  with  the  back  of  it  against  his  hip 
and  his  fingers  moving  up  and  down  briskly  in 
a  beckoning  manner,  said,  — 

"  We  are  not  allowed  to  take  it,  sir  —  we  are 
not  allowed  to  take  it." 

As  Mr.  George  stepped  out  upon  the  platform 
at  the  London  Bridge  station  his  first  thought 
was  to  find  Hollo,  who  had  chosen  to  come  in  a 
second-class  car,  partly  for  the  purpose  of  sav 
ing  the  difference  in  the  fare,  and  partly,  as  he 
said,  "  for  the  fun  of  it."  Rollo  had  a  regular 
allowance  from  his  father  for  his  travelling  ex 
penses,  sufficient  to  pay  his  way  in  the  first-class 
conveyances  ;  and  the  understanding  was,  that 
whatever  he  should  save  from  this  sum  by  trav 
elling  in  the  cheaper  modes  was  to  be  his  own 
for  pocket  money  or  to  add  to  his  reserved  funds. 


LONDON   BRIDGE.  23 

The  second-class  cars.  Mr.  George's  luggage. 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo  soon  found  each  other 
on  the  platform. 

"  Well,  Rollo,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  and  how 
do  you  like  travelling  cheap  ?  " 

"  Pretty  well,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  only  I  could  not 
see  out  much  ;  but  then  I  have  saved  six  shil 
lings  in  coming  from  Dover.  That  is  the  same 
as  twelve  New  York  shillings  —  a  dollar  and  a 
half.  I  can  buy  several  pretty  things  with  that 
to  carry  home." 

"  That's  very  true,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"  Some  time  I  mean  to  go  in  the  fourth-class 
car,"  said  Rollo.  "  7Tis  true  we  have  to  stand 
up  all  the  time  like  sheep  in  a  pen  ;  but  I  shall 
not  care  for  that." 

"  Well,  you  can  try  it,"  said  Mr.  George  ; 
"  but  now  for  our  luggage." 

The  English  people  always  call  the  effects 
which  a  traveller  takes  with  him  on  the  jour 
ney  his  luggage. 

Yery  soon  a  porter  took  Mr.  George's  trunk 
from  the  top  of  the  car. 

"  Will  you  have  a  cab,  sir  ?  "  said  the  porter, 
touching  his  cap  to  Mr.  George. 

"  I  want  to  leave  my  trunk  here  for  a  short 
time  under  your  charge,"  said  Mr.  George. 
"  That  is  a  little  out  of  the  line  of  your  duty,  I 
know  ;  but  I  will  remember  that  when  I  corno 
for  it." 


24  HOLLO   IN   LONDON. 

The  reasons  why  Mr.  George  left  the  luggage  at  the  station. 

"  All  right,  sir,"  said  the  porter,  promptly, 
touching  his  cap  again. 

He  took  up  the  trunk  and  threw  it  on  his 
shoulder  ;  and  then,  followed  by  Mr.  George  and 
Rollo,  he  walked  away  to  the  luggage  room. 
After  it  had  been  properly  deposited  in  its  place, 
Mr.  George  and  Eollo  went  out  of  the  station 
into  the  street. 

"  Are  not  you  going  to  ride  ?  "  said  Rollo  to 
Mr.  George. 

" No,"  said  Mr.  George ;  "I  am  going  to 
walk." 

"  What's  that  for  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  There  are  two  reasons,"  said  Mr.  George ; 
u  one  is,  I  want  to  show  you  London  Bridge." 

"  Well,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  and  what  is  the  other 
reason  ?  " 

"  The  other  is,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  that  I  do 
not  wish  to  have  the  trouble  of  the  luggage 
while  I  am  looking  out  lodgings.  If  I  go  to  a 
hotel  and  leave  my  luggage  there  and  take  a 
room,  and  then  go  and  look  up  lodgings,  we 
have  the  hotel  bill  to  pay,  without  getting  much 
benefit  from  it ;  and,  if  we  take  the  luggage  on 
a  cab,  we  might  go  to  a  dozen  different  places 
before  we  find  a  room  to  suit  us,  and  so  have  a 
monstrous  great  cab  fare  to  pay." 

"  Yes,"  said  R  )llo  ;  "  I  understand.     Besides, 


LONDON   BRIDGE.  25 

Mr.  George's  account  of  London.  "  The  city." 

I  should  like  to  walk  through  the  streets  and 
see  the  city." 

As  our  two  travellers  walked  along  towards 
London  Bridge,  Mr.  George  explained  to  Rollo 
what  is  stated  in  the  first  chapter  in  respect  to 
the  double  character  of  London. 

"  What  we  are  coming  to  now,  first,"  said  he, 
"  is  the  city  —  the  commercial  capital  of  the  coun 
try.  In  fact,  it  may  almost  be  said  to  be  the 
commercial  capital  of  the  world.  Here  are  the 
great  docks  and  warehouses,  where  are  accumu 
lated  immense  stores  of  merchandise  from  every 
quarter  of  the  globe.  Here  is  the  bank,  with 
its  enormous  vaults  full  of  treasures  of  gold 
and  silver  coin,  and  the  immense  legers  in 
which  are  kept  accounts  with  governments,  and 
wealthy  merchants,  and  great  capitalists  all 
over  the  world.  Here  is  the  post  office,  too, 
the  centre  of  a  system  of  communications,  by 
land  and  sea,  extending  to  every  quarter  of  the 
globe. 

"  The  chief  magistrate  of  the  city,"  continued 
Mr.  George,  "  is  called  the  lord  mayor.  He 
lives  in  a  splendid  palace  called  the  Mansion 
House.  Then  there  is  the  great  Cathedral 
Church  of  St.  Paul's,  and  a  vast  number  cf 
other  churches,  and  chapels,  and  hospitals,  and 
schools,  all  belonging  to,  and  supported  by,  the 


26  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

"  The  West  End."  London  Bridge.  A  remarkable  scene. 

commercial  and  business  interests  which  con 
centrate  in  the  city.  You  will  find  a  very  dif 
ferent  set  of  buildings  and  institutions  at  the 
West  End." 

"  What  shall  we  find  there  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  We  shall  find  there,"  said  Mr.  George, "  the 
palace  of  the  queen ;  and  the  houses  of  Parlia 
ment,  where  the  lords  and  commons  assemble  to 
make  laws  for  the  empire  ;  and  the  Horse 
Guards,  which  is  a  great  edifice  that  serves  as 
head  quarters  for  the  British  army  ;  and  the 
Admiralty,  which  is  the  head  quarters  of  the 
navy  ;  and  the  private  palaces  of  the  nobles  ; 
and  the  parks  and  pleasure  grounds  that  connect 
and  surround  them." 

About  this  time  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  began 
to  come  in  sight  of  London  Bridge  ;  and  very 
soon  afterwards  they  found  themselves  entering 
upon  it.  Rollo  was,  for  a  time,  quite  bewil 
dered  with  astonishment  at  the  extraordinary 
aspect  of  the  scene.  They  came  out  upon  the 
bridge,  from  the  midst  of  a  very  dense  and  com 
pact  mass  of  streets  and  houses,  on  what  is 
called  the  Surrey  side  of  the  river  ;  and  they 
could  see,  dimly  defined  through  the  murky  at 
mosphere,  the  outlines  of  the  city  on  the  other 
eide.  There  were  long  ranges  of  warehouses  ; 
and  innumerable  chimneys,  pouring  forth  black 


LONDON   BRIDGE.  27 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  The  people  on  the  bridge. 

smoke  ;  and  the  Monument ;  and  spires  of 
churches  ;  and,  conspicuous  among  the  rest,  — 
though  half  obscured  by  murky  clouds  of  smoke 
and  vapor,  —  the  immense  dome  of  St.  Paul's, 
with  the  great  gilded  ball  and  cross  on  the  top 
of  it. 

The  bridge  was  built  of  stone,  on  arches,  and 
was  of  the  most  massive  and  ponderous  charac 
ter.  There  was  a  roadway  in  the  centre  of  it, 
on  which  two  continued  streams  of  vehicles  were 
passing  —  one  on  the  left,  going  into  the  city  ; 
and  the  other  on  the  right,  coming  out.  On  each 
side  were  broad  stone  sidewalks,  formed  of  mas 
sive  blocks  of  granite,  feeling  solid  and  heavy 
under  the  tread  as  if  they  had  been  laid  upon  the 
firm  ground.  These  sidewalks  were  crowded  with 
passengers,  who  were  going,  some  into,  and  some 
out  of,  the  city,  so  as  to  form  on  each  sidewalk 
two  continuous  streams.  On  each  side  of  the 
bridge,  towards  the  water,  was  a  solid  parapet, 
or  wall.  This  parapet  was  about  as  high  as 
Hollo's  shoulders.  Here  a'nd  there,  at  different 
places  along  the  bridge,  were  groups  of  people 
that  had  stopped  to  look  over  the  parapet  to 
the  river.  Each  group  formed  a  little  row,  ar 
ranged  along  the  parapet,  with  their  faces 
towards  the  water. 

"  Let  us  stop  and  look  over,"  said  Bollo. 


28  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Seats  upon  the  bridge.        Hollo  and  Mr.  George  look  over  the  parapet. 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  not  now  ;  we  will 
wait  till  we  get  to  the  middle  of  the  bridge." 

So  they  walked  on.  When  they  had  proceed 
ed  a  little  way,  they  came  to  a  place  where 
there  was  a  sort  of  niche,  or  recess,  in  the  par 
apet,  perhaps  ten  or  fifteen  feet  long,  and  four 
or  five  deep,  from  the  sidewalk.  There  were 
stone  seats  extending  all  around  the  sides  of 
this  recess;  and  these  seats  were  full  of  boys  and 
men,  some  with  burdens  and  some  without,  who 
had  stopped  and  sat  down  there  to  rest.  Rol- 
lo  wished  to  propose  to  Mr.  George  that  they 
should  stop  and  sit  down  there  too  ;  not  because 
he  was  tired,  but  only  to  see  how  it  would 
seem  to  be  seated  in  such  a  place.  He  did  not 
propose  this  plan,  however,  for  he  saw  at  a 
glance  that  the  seats  were  all  occupied,  and  that 
there  was  no  room. 

A  little  distance  beyond  they  came  to  an 
other  niche,  and  afterwards  to  another,  and 
another. 

"  These  niches  are  over  the  piers  of  the  bridge," 
Baid  Mr.  George,  "  I  suppose.  Let  us  look  over 
and  see." 

So  they  stopped  a  moment  and  looked  over 
the  parapet.  They  beheld  a  turbid  and  whirl 
ing  stream  pouring  through  the  bridge,  under 
the  arches,  with  a  very  rapid  current  t  and  at 


LONDON    BRIDGE.  29 

The  steamboat.  Down  the  river.  Hollo's  mistake. 

the  instant  that  they  looked  down,  they  saw 
the  bows  of  a  small  steamboat  come  shooting 
through.  The  deck  of  the  steamer  was  crowded 
with  people  —  men,  women,  and  children.  Some 
were  standing,  and  others  were  sitting  on  bench 
es  that  were  arranged  round  the  side  and 
along  the  middle  of  the  deck ;  all,  however,  in 
the  open  air. 

"  I  wonder  where  that  steamer  is  going,"  said 
Rollo. 

"  Down  the  river  somewhere,"  said  Mr. 
George  ;  "  perhaps  to  Greenwich  or  Woolwich." 

"  Up  the  river,  you  mean,"  said  Rollo.  "  Don't 
you  see  she  is  going  against  the  current  ?  See 
how  swift  the  water  runs  under  the  arches  of 
the  bridge ! " 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  but  that  current  is 
the  tide,  coming  in  from  the  sea.  This  way  is 
down  towards  the  mouth  of  the  river.  See  all 
this  shipping  here  !  It  has  come  up  from  the 
sea."  Here  Mr.  George  pointed  with  his  hand 
down  the  river,  waving  it  from  one  side  to  the 
other,  so  as  to  direct  Hollo's  attention  to  both 
shores,  where  there  lay  immense  forests  of  ship 
ping,  three  or  four  tiers  deep  on  each  side,  and 
extending  down  the  river  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
penetrate  into  the  thick  and  murky  atmosphere. 
Besides  the  tiers  of  shipping  which  lay  thus 


30  ROLLO    IN   LONDON. 

A  city  of  ships.  Below  the  bridge  and  above  the  bridge. 

along  the  shores  of  the  river,  there  were  two 
other  ranges,  each  three  or  four  tiers  wide,  out 
in  the  stream,  leaving  a  broad,  open  passage  be 
tween  them,  in  the  middle,  and  two  narrower 
passages,  one  on  each  side,  between  them  and 
the  shore. 

"  It  is  a  city  of  ships,"  said  Rollo,  "  with 
streets  of  open  water." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  it  is  indeed." 

The  streets,  as  Rollo  called  them,  of  open 
water,  were  full  of  boats,  going  and  coming,  and 
of  lighters  and  wherries,  with  a  steamer  now 
and  then  shooting  along  among  them,  or  a  large 
vessel  slowly  coming  up  or  going  down  by 
means  of  its  sails. 

"  This  is  the  way  down  the  river,"  repeated 
Mr.  George.  "  The  ships  have  come  up  as  far 
as  here  ;  but  they  cannot  go  any  farther,  on  ac 
count  of  the  bridge.  Look  above  the  bridge, 
and  you  will  see  that  there  are  no  ships."  So 
Rollo  and  Mr.  George  turned  round  to  look  up 
the  river.  They  could  only  catch  an  occasional 
glimpse  of  the  river  through  casual  openings  in 
the  stream  of  carts,  carriages,  vans,  cabs,  wag 
ons,  and  omnibuses  that  were  incessantly  roll 
ing  on  in  opposite  streams  along  the  roadway 
of  the  bridge.  Although  the  view  was  thus 
obstructed,  they  could  easily  see  there  were  no 


LONDON    BRIDGE.  31 

The  little  black  steamers  on  the  Thames.  Drawbridges. 

ships  above  the  bridge  that  they  were  standing 
on.  There  were,  however,  several  other  bridges 
farther  up,  with  a  great  many  boats  passing  to 
and  fro  among  them  •  and,  here  and  there,  there  ap 
peared  a  long  and  sharp-built  little  steamer,  glid 
ing  swiftly  through  the  water.  These  steamers 
were  painted  black,  and  they  poured  forth  volumes 
of  smoke' so  dark  and  dense  from  their  funnels  as 
quite  to  fill  the  air,  and  make  the  whole  prospect 
in  that  direction  exceedingly  murky  and  obscure. 

"  Let  us  go  over  to  the  other  side  of  the 
bridge,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Not  yet,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  but  you  see  that 
there  is  no  shipping  above  the  bridge.  Vessels 
could  not  go  up  above  the  bridge,  in  fact.  They 
could  not  go  up,  for  the  masts  are  too  long  to 
pass  under  the  arches." 

"  They  might  have  a  draw  in  the  middle  of  the 
bridge,"  said  Rollo. 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  A  draw  will  not  an 
swer,  except  in  cases  where  there  is  only  a  moder 
ate  degree  of  passing  over  a  bridge,  so  as  to  allow 
of  an  interruption  for  a  little  time  without  any 
great  inconvenience.  But  this  bridge,  you  see,  is 
perfectly  thronged  all  the  time  with  continued 
streams  of  foot  passengers  and  carriages.  If  a 
draw  were  to  be  opened  in  this  bridge  for  only 
ten  minutes,  to  allow  a  vessel  to  go  through,  there 


32  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

How  the  steamers  get  under  the  bridge.  The  Custom  House. 

would  be  such  a  jam  on  both  sides  that  it  would 
take  all  day  to  disentangle  it." 

"  I  don't  see  how  the  little  steamers  get  through 
under  the  bridges,"  said  Hollo.  "The  smoke- 
pipes  are  higher  than  the  arches." 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "they  are.  But  I 
will  show  you  how  they  manage  that  by  and  by. 
There  is  something  very  curious  about  that.  Now 
let  us  look  down  the  river  again." 

So  Hollo  turned  round  with  Mr.  George,  and 
they  both  looked  down  the  river.  They  saw  on 
the  left  hand  of  the  river  —  that  is,  on  the  Lon 
don  side,  the  side  towards  which  they  were  go 
ing —  a  great  steamboat  landing,  with  several 
steamboats  lying  near  it. 

"  That  is  where  the  steamboats  lie,"  said  Mr. 
George, "  that  go  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
and  across  the  sea  to  France,  Holland,  and  Ger 
many." 

"I  should  like  to  go  in  one  of  them,"  said 
Hollo. 

"Do  you  see  that  large  building  just  below  the 
steamboat  landing,  fronting  the  river  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Hollo  ;  "  what  is  it  ?  " 

"It  is  the  Custom  House,"  said  Mr.  George. 
"Every  ship  that  comes  into  the  Thames  from 
foreign  countries  has  to  send  her  manifest  there 
and  pay  the  duties." 


LONDON    BRIDGE.  33 

What  is  a  manifest  ?  The  scene  at  the  Custom  House. 

"  What  is  a  manifest  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  It  is  a  list,  or  schedule,"  said  Mr.  George, 
"  of  every  thing  there  is  contained  in  the  cargo. 
The  officers  of  the  Custom  House  make  a  calcu 
lation,  by  this  manifest,  of  the  amount  of  duties 
that  are  to  be  paid  to  the  government  for  the 
cargo,  and  the  owners  of  the  ship  have  to  pay  it 
before  they  can  land  their  goods." 

"  Can  we  go  into  the  Custom  House  and  see  it  ?  " 
said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  I  am  sure  it  must  be 
open  to  the  public,  because  all  sorts  of  persons 
must  have  occasion  to  go  there  continually,  to 
transact  business  ;  but  I  do  not  suppose  there 
would  be  much  to  see  inside.  There  would  be  a 
great  many  tables  and  desks,  and  a  great  many 
clerks  and  monstrous  big  account  books,  and 
multitudes  of  people  coming  and  going  continual 
ly  ;  but  that  would  be  all." 

"  I  should  like  to  go  and  see  them,"  said  Rollo. 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  George,  "perhaps  we  will 
look  in  some  time  when  we  are  going  by  on 
our  way  to  the  Tower  or  to  the  Tunnel.  But 
now  look  down  just  below  the  Custom  House  and 
see  the  Tower." 

Rollo  looked  in  the  direction  which  Mr. 
George  indicated ;  and  there  he  saw  upon  the 
bank  of  the  river,  a  little  below  the  Custom  House, 
3 


34  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Mr.  George  points  out  the  Tower.  The  old  wall  of  London. 

rising  above  the  other  buildings  in  that  quarter 
of  the  town,  a  large,  square  edifice,  with  turrets 
at  the  corners.  This  building  was  surrounded  with 
other  edifices  of  a  castellated  form,  which  gave 
the  whole  the  appearance  of  an  extended  fortress. 

"That,"  said  Mr.  George,  "is  the  famous 
Tower  of  London." 

"  What  is  it  famous  for  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  I  can't  stop  to  tell  you  about  it  now/7  said 
Mr.  George.  "  It  was  built  originally  as  a  sort 
of  fort  to  defend  the  city.  You  see,  the  place 
where  the  Tower  stands  was  formerly  the  lower 
corner  of  the  city ;  and  there  was  a  wall,  be 
ginning  at  the  Tower,  and  running  back  all 
around  the  city,  and  so  down  to  the  water  again 
at  the  upper  end  of  it.  Do  you  see  St.  Paul's  ?  " 
added  Mr.  George,  turning  half  round  and 
pointing. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  but  it  is  pretty  smoky." 

"You  can  see,"  said  Mr.  George,  "from  the 
position  of  St.  Paul's,  where  the  old  wall  went. 
It  passed  some  distance  back  from  St.  Paul's,  and 
came  down  to  the  water  some  distance  above  it. 
All  within  this  wall  was  the  old  city  of  London ; 
and  the  Tower  was  built  at  the  lower  corner  of  it 
to  defend  it. 

"Do  you  see  any  reason,"  continued  Mr. 
George,  "why  they  should  place  the  Tower  at 


LONDON    BEIPGE.  35 

The  reason  of  the  location  of  the  Tower.  Its  present  use. 

the  lower  end,  rather  than  at  the  upper  end,  of 
the  city  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  do  not  see  any  reason  in 
particular." 

"The  reason  was,"  said  Mr.  George,  "that 
what  they  had  reason  to  guard  the  city  against 
was  the  danger  of  an  attack  from  enemies  coming 
up  the  river  in  ships  from  the  sea ;  and  so  they 
placed  the  Tower  below  the  city,  in  order  to  inter 
cept  them.  But  now  the  city  has  spread  and  ex 
tended  down  the  river  far  below  the  Tower,  and 
back  far  beyond  the  old  wall ;  so  that  the  Tower 
is,  at  the  present  time,  in  the  midst  of  an  immense 
region  of  streets  and  warehouses,  and  it  is  no 
longer  of  any  use  as  a  fortification.  It  is  too 
high  up." 

"  What  do  they  use  it  for,  then  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"It  is  used  by  the  government,"  said  Mr. 
George,  "  as  a  sort  of  strong  box,  to  keep  curios 
ities,  treasures,  and  valuables  of  all  sorts  in,  and 
any  thing  else,  in  fact,  which  they  wish  to  have 
in  safe  and  secure  custody.  They  keep  what  are 
called  state  prisoners  there." 

"Can  we  go  in  the  Tower,"  said  Rollo,  "  and 
see  all  these  things  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  we  can  see  the 
treasures  and  curiosities  ;  but  I  believe  there  are 
no  prisoners  there  now." 


36  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  blind  man.  How  he  walked  in  the  crowd. 

Just  then  Rollo  heard  a  rapping  sound  upon 
the  stone  of  the  sidewalk  near  him.  He  looked 
round  to  see  what  it  was.  There  was  a  blind 
man  coming  along.  He  had  a  stick  in  his  hand, 
which  seemed  to  be  armed  at  the  lower  end  with 
a  little  ferule  of  iron.  With  this  iron  the  blind 
man  kept  up  a  continual  rapping  on  the  flagstones 
as  he  slowly  advanced.  The  iron  produced  a 
sharp  and  ringing  sound,  which  easily  made  itself 
heard  above  the  thundering  din  of  the  carriages 
and  vans  that  were  rolling  incessantly  over  the 
bridge,  and  served  as  a  warning  to  the  foot  pas 
sengers  on  the  sidewalk  that  a  blind  man  was  com 
ing.  Every  one  hearing  this  rapping  looked  up 
to  see  what  it  meant ;  and,  perceiving  tnat  it  was 
a  blind  man,  they  moved  to  one  side  and  the 
other  to  make  way  for  him.  Thus,  though  the 
sidewalk  was  so  crowded  that  a  person  with  eyes 
could  scarcely  get  along,  the  blind  man,  though 
he  moved  very  slowly,  had  always  vacant  space 
before  him,  and  advanced  without  any  difficulty 
or  danger.* 

"  Think  of  a  blind  man  in  such  a   crowd  as 
this!"  said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"And  he  gets  along  better  than  any  of  the 
rest  of  us,"  said  Rollo. 

*  See  frontispiece. 


LONDON    BRIDGE.  37 

Kollo's  plan  for  getting  through  a  crowd.  The  watermen. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  so  it  seems." 

"  The  next  time  I  wish  to  go  through  a  crowd/' 
said  Rollo,  "  I  mean  to  get  a  cane,  and  then  shut 
my  eyes  and  rap  with  it,  and  every  body  will 
make  room  for  me." 

"  Look  round  here  a  minute  more,"  said  Mr. 
George  ;  "  there  is  something  else  that  I  wish  to 
explain  to  you.  You  see  there  are  no  bridges 
below  this,  though  there  are  a  great  many 
above." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  and  how  do  they  get 
across  the  river  below  here?  Are  there  ferry 
boats  ?  " 

"  I  think  it  likely  there  are  ferry  boats  down 
below,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  At  any  rate,  there 
are  plenty  of  small  boats  which  any  body  can 
hire.  They  are  rowed  by  men  called  watermen. 


'  Bound  'prentice  to  a  waterman, 
I  learned  a  bit  to  row.'  " 


"  What  poetry  is  that  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  It  is  part  of  some  old  song,"  said  Mr.  George. 
"Look  down  the  river  and  you  can  see  these 
boats  cruising  about  among  the  shipping." 

"  Is  that  the  way  they  get  across  the  river  be 
low  here  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George ;  "  and  then  there  ia 


38  ROLLO  IN   LONDON. 

The  Tunnel.  Why  a  tunnel  was  built  instead  of  a  bridge. 

the  Tunnel  besides.  They  can  go  under  the  river 
through  the  Tunnel  if  they  please,  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  below  here." 

"  Is  that  the  reason  why  they  made  the  Tun 
nel,"  said  Rollo,  "  because  they  could  not  have 
any  bridge  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  It  would  have 
been  a  great  deal  cheaper  and  better  to  have 
made  a  'bridge  ;  but  a  bridge  would  have  inter 
fered  with  the  shipping,  and  so  they  made  a  tun 
nel  underneath." 

"  I  never  knew  before,"  said  Rollo,  "  why  they 
made  the  Tunnel." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  that  is  the  reason. 
It  was  a  very  difficult  and  expensive  work  ;  but 
I  believe  it  proved  a  failure.  Very  few  people 
use  it  for  crossing  the  river,  though  a  great  many 
go  to  see  it.  It  is  a  curious  place  to  see.  But 
now  let  us  go  across  the  bridge  and  see  what  is 
on  the  other  side." 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo  had  to  stand  several 
minutes  on  the  curbstone  of  the  sidewalk  before 
they  could  find  openings,  in  the  trains  of  vehicles 
which  were  moving  to  and  fro  over  the  bridge, 
wide  enough  to  allow  them  to  pass  through  to 
the  other  side.  At  length,  however,  they  succeed 
ed  in  getting  across ;  and,  after  walking  along 
on  the  upper  side  of  the  bridge  for  some  distance 


LONDON    BRIDGE. 


Looking  up  the  river.  The  little  steamers. 

farther,  until  they  had  nearly  reached  the  Lon 
don  end  of  it,  they  stopped  and  looked  over  the 
parapet  down  to  the  water. 

Of  course  their  faces  were  now  turned  up  the 
river,  and  the  view  which  presented  itself  was 
entirely  different  from  that  which  had  been  seen 
below.  Immediately  beneath  where  they  were 
standing,  and  close  in  to  the  shore  of  the  riv 
er,  they  witnessed  a  most  extraordinary  specta 
cle,  which  was  formed  by  a  group  of  small  and 
smoky-looking  steamers,  that  were  hovering  in 
apparent  confusion  about  a  platform  landing 
there.  The  decks  of  the  steamers  were  all 
crowded  with  passengers.  Some  of  the  boats 
were  just  coming  to  the  land,  some  just  leaving 
it,  and  others  were  moored  to  the  platform,  and 
streams  of  passengers  were  embarking  or  disem 
barking  from  them.  The  landing  consisted  of  a 
floating  platform,  that  was  built  over  great  flat- 
bottomed  boats,  that  were  moored  at  a  little  dis 
tance  from  the  bank,  so  as  to  rise  and  fall  with 
the  tide.  There  was  a  strong  railing  along  the 
outer  edge  of  the  platform,  with  openings  here 
and  there  through  it  for  passage  ways  to  the  boats. 
Behind,  the  platforms  were  connected  with  the 
shore  by  long  bridges,  having  a  little  toll  house 
at  the  outer  end  of  each  of  them,  with  the  words, 
"  PAY  HEKE,"  inscribed  on  a  sign  over  the  win- 


4:0  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Mr.  George  proposes  a  sail  in  one  of  the  steamers. 

dow.  The  passengers,  as  they  came  down  from 
the  shore,  stopped  at  these  toll  houses  to  pay  the 
fare  for  the  places  to  which  they  wished  to  go. 
The  decks  of  the  steamers,  the  platforms,  and  all 
the  bridges  were  thronged  with  people,  going  and 
coming  in  all  directions,  and  crowding  their  way 
to  and  from  the  boats ;  and  every  two  or  three 
minutes  a  steamer,  having  received  its  load,  would 
push  off  from  the  platform,  and  paddle  its  way 
swiftly  up  the  river  among  a  multitude  of  others 
that  were  shooting  swiftly  along,  in  all  directions, 
over  the  water. 

The  volumes  of  dense,  black  smoke  which  rolled 
up  from  the  funnels  of  the  steamers  made  the  at 
mosphere  very  thick  and  murky  ;  and  the  whole 
scene,  as  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  looked  down  up 
on  it  from  the  parapet  above,  for  a  time  seemed 
almost  to  bewilder  them. 

"  Let  us  go  down  and  take  a  sail  in  one  of 
those  steamers,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"  Where  do  they  go  to  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"  Well,"  said  Rollo,  "  let  us  go." 

So  saying,  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  walked  on 
towards  the  end  of  the  bridge.  Here  they  found 
a  broad  stone  staircase,  which  turned  off  from 
the  great  thoroughfare,  at  a  place  near  the  corner 
of  a  large  stone  building.  The  staircase  was 


LONDON    BRIDGE.  41 


The  dry  arch.  Conversation  between  Mr.  George  and  the  tollman. 

very  broad  and  massive,  and  was  covered  with 
people  going  up  and  coming  down. 

"  This  must  be  a  way  down  to  the  landing/1 
said  Mr.  George. 

So  our  two  travellers  began  to  descend ;  and, 
after  turning  several  square  corners  in  the  stair 
case,  they  came  out  into  the  street  which  led  along 
the  margin  of  the  river,  at  a  level  of  twenty  or 
thirty  feet  below  the  bridge.  This  street  passed 
through  under  one  of  the  dry  arches  of  the  bridge, 
as  they  are  called  ;.  that  is,  one  built  on  the  slop 
ing  margin  of  the  shore,  where  no  water  flows. 
They  passed  across  this  street,  and  then  entered 
a  broad  passage  way  which  led  down  towards 
the  floating  platforms.  There  were  a  great  many 
people  coming  and  going.  They  stopped  at  the 
toll  house  on  one  of  the  little  bridges  to  pay  the 
fare. 

"  How  much  is  to  pay  ?  "  said  Mr.  George  to 
the  tollman,  taking  out  his  purse. 

"  Where  do  YOU  wish  to  go  ?  "  said  the  toll 
man. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  George,  looking  at 
Rollo  ;  "  about  a  mile  or  two  up  the  river." 

"To  Hungerford  landing?"  asked  the  toll' 
man. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"  Or  Westminster  ?  "  said  the  tollman. 


ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 


Asking  the  way.  The  orange  woman. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  we  will  go  to 
Westminster." 

"  Twopence  each,"  said  the  tollman. 

So  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  each  laid  dcwn  two 
pennies  on  the  little  counter  in  the  window  sill, 
and  the  man  giving  them  each  a  little  paper 
ticket,  they  passed  on. 

"  Now  the  question  is,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  how 
to  find  out  what  boat  we  are  to  get  into.  Here 
is  an  orange  woman  on  the  platform  ;  I  will  buy 
a  couple  of  oranges  of  her,  one  for  you  and  one 
for  me.  and  then  she  will  be  glad  to  tell  us  which 
is  the  boat." 

"  She  will  tell  us  without,"  said  Rollo. 

"  As  a  matter  of  favor  ?  "  asked  Mr.  George. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo. 

"  I  suppose  she  would,"  said  Mr.  George  ; 
"  but  I  would  rather  that  the  obligation  should 
be  the  other  way." 

So  Mr.  George  bought  two  oranges  of  the 
woman,  and  paid  her  a  halfpenny  over  and  above 
the  price  of  them.  She  seemed  very  grateful  for 
this  kindness,  and  took  great  interest  in  showing 
him  which  of  the  boats  he  and  Rollo  must  take 
to  go  to  Westminster. 

"  There's  one  thing  that  I  particularly  wish  to 
go  and  see,"  said  Rollo,  "  while  we  are  in  Lon 
don." 


LONDON    BRIDGE. 


43 


Hollo's  wish 


The  ragged  schools 


Their  origin. 


"  What  is  that  ?  "  asked  Mr.  George. 

"  One  of  the  ragged  schools/7  said  Rollo. 

"  What  are  they  ?  "  asked  Mr.  George. 

"  Why,  they  are   schools   for  poor  boys;''  re* 


THE   FIRST   RAGGED   SCHOOL 


plied  Rollo.  "  I  believe  the  boys  that  go  to  tlio 
schools  are  pretty  much  all  ragged.  These  schools 
were  begun  by  a  cobbler.  I  read  about  it  in  a 
book.  The  cobbler  used  to  call  the  ragged  boys 


44 


HOLLO    IN    LONDON. 


Mr.  George  and  Hollo  embark  upon  the  Westminster  boat. 

in  that  lived  about  his  shop,  and  teach  them. 
Afterwards  other  people  established  such  schools  ; 
and  now  there  are  a  great  many  of  them,  and 
some  of  them  are  very  large." 

"  We'll  go  and  see  some  of  them,"  said  Mr. 
George.  "  I  should  like  to  go  and  see  them  very 
much." 

So  saying  Mr.  George  led  the  way  to  the  boat 
that  the  orange  woman  had  pointed  out  as  the 
one  for  Westminster  ;  and  they  stepped  on  board, 
together  with  a  little  crowd  of  other  passengers 
who  were  going  up  the  river  like  themselves. 


THE    RIVER.  45 


On  board  the  boat.  The  sail  on  the  river. 


CHAPTER    III. 
THE    RIVER. 

MR.  GEORGE  and  Rollo  fell  into  the  line  of 
people  that  were  pressing  forward  over  the  plank 
which  led  to  the  boat  that  the  orange  woman  had 
directed  them  to  embark  in  •  and  they  soon  found 
themselves  on  board.  The  boat  was  small  and 
quite  narrow.  There  was  no  saloon  or  enclosed 
apartment  of  any  kind  for  the  passengers,  nor 
even  an  awning  to  shelter  them  from  the  sun  or 
rain.  There  were,  however,  substantial  settees 
placed  around  the  deck,  some  forward  and  others 
aft.  Some  of  these  settees  were  on  the  sides  of 
the  steamer,  by  the  railing,  and  there  were  others 
placed  back  to  back  in  the  middle.  There  were 
not  seats  enough  for  all  the  passengers ;  and  thus 
many  were  obliged  to  stand. 

As  the  boat  glided  along  swiftly  over  the 
water,  Rollo  gazed  with  wonder  and  interest  at 
the  various  objects  and  scenes  which  presented 
themselves  to  view  around  him.  The  rows  of 
dmgy-lookir.g  warehouses  dimly  seen  through  the 


ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 


Another  landing-place.  The  pilot's  signals. 

smoke  along  the  shores  of  the  river  ;  the  ranges 
of  barges,  lighters,  and  wherries  lying  at  the 
margin  of  the  water  below  ;  the  bridges,  stretch 
ing  through  the  murky  atmosphere  across  the 
stream,  with  throngs  of  people  upon  them  pass 
ing  incessantly  to  and  fro  ;  the  little  steamers, 
long  and  slender,  and  blackened  by  smoke,  shoot 
ing  swiftly  in  every  direction  over  the  surface  of 
the  water  ;  and  the  spires  and  domes  of  the  city 
seen  on  every  hand  beyond  the  nearer  buildings, 
—  attracted  by  turns  the  attention  of  our  travel 
lers,  and  excited  their  wonder. 

In  a  very  few  minutes,  however,  after  the  boat 
had  left  its  first  station,  she  seemed  to  be  ap 
proaching  another  landing-place,  and  Hollo  was 
very  much  amused  to  observe  how  the  steamer 
was  manoeuvred  in  coming  up  to  the  landing 
and  making  fast  there.  The  pilot  who  had  the 
command  of  her  stood  upon  the  wheel  house  on  one 
side,  and  gave  his  orders  by  means  of  little  ges 
tures  which  he  made  with^  his  fingers  and  hand. 
The  helmsman,  who  stood  at  the  wheel  in  the 
stern,  watched  these  gestures,  and  regulated  his 
steering  by  such  of  them  as  were  meant  for  him. 
There  were  other  gestures,  however,  which  were 
meant  for  the  engineer,  who  had  charge  of  the 
engine.  This  engineer,  however,  could  not  see 
the  gestures  of  the  pilot,  for  he  was  down  among 


THE    RIVER.  47 

Ease— er-r-r !  Stop— er-r-r  !  Back— er-r-r!          Start— er-r-r ! 

the  machinery,  beneath  the  deck ;  and  so  there 
was  a  boy  stationed  on  the  deck,  near  an  opening 
which  led  down  to  where  the  engineer  was  stand 
ing  j  and  this  boy  interpreted  the  gestures  as 
the  pilot  made  them,  calling  out  to  the  engineer 
the  import  of  them  with  a  very  curious  drawling 
intonation,  which  amused  Hollo  very  much. 
Thus,  when  the  steamer  approached  the  land,  the 
boy,  watching  the  fingers  of  the  pilot,  called  out, 
with  intervals  of  a  few  seconds  between  each 
order,  in  a  loud  voice  to  the  engineer  below,  as 
follows  :  — 

"  EASE — ER-R-R  ! " 

Then,  after  two  or  three  seconds,  — 

"  STOP — ER-R-R  ! " 

Then  again,  — 

"  BACK— ER-R-R  !  " 

The  engineer  obeyed  all  these  orders  in  succes 
sion  as  they  were  thus  announced  to  him  ;  and 
the  steamer  was  brought  up  very  safely  to  the 
landing,  although  the  person  who  controlled  her 
motions  could  not  see  at  all  where  he  was  going. 

When  the  steamer  was  thus,  at  length,  moored 
to  the  landing,  a  number  of  the  passengers 
stepped  off,  and  a  great  many  others  got  on ; 
and,  immediately  afterwards,  the  cables  were  cast 
off,  and  the  boy  called  out,  — 

•'START — ER-R-R  " 


4:8  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Shooting  the  arch.  Tipping  back  the  smokepipe 

The  steamer  then  began  to  glide  away  from 
the  landing  again,  and  was  soon  swiftly  shooting 
over  the  water  towards  one  of  the  arches  of  the 
next  bridge  up  the  stream. 

"  Now,"  said  Rollo,  "  how  are  they  going  to 
get  this  tall  smokepipe  through  that  bridge  ?  " 

"  You  will  see,"  said  Mr.  George. 

Rollo  looked  up  to  the  top  of  the  smokepipe, 
which  seemed  to  be  considerably  higher  than  the 
crown  of  the  arch  that  the  steamer  was  approach 
ing.  How  it  could  possibly  pass  was  a  mystery. 
The  mystery  was,  however,  soon  solved  ;  for,  at 
the  instant  that  the  bows  of  the  steamer  entered 
under  the  arch,  two  men,  taking  hold  of  levers 
below,  turned  the  whole  smokepipe  back,  by 
means  of  a  hinge  joint  that  had  been  made  in  it, 
not  far  from  the  deck.  The  hinge  was  in  the 
back  side  of  the  smokepipe,  and  of  course  in 
bending  the  pipe  back  'there  was  an  opening 
made  in  front ;  and  through  this  opening  the 
smoke,  while  the  steamer  was  passing  through  the 
bridge,  came  out  in  dense  volumes.  As  soon, 
however,  as  the  arch  was  cleared,  the  pipe  was 
brought  back  into  its  place  again  by  the  force  of 
great  weights  placed  at  the  ends  of  the  levers  as 
a  counterpoise.  Thus  the  opening  below  was 
closed,  and  the  smoke  came  out  of  the  top  of  the 
pipe  as  before. 


THE    RIVER.  51 

How  Mr.  George  would  recognize  the  Westminster  landing. 

As  soon  as  the  boat  had  passed  the  bridge, 
Rollo,  looking  forward,  saw  another  landing  at  a 
short  distance  in  advance  of  them. 

"  Here  comes  another  landing,"  said  Rollo. 
"  Is  this  the  Westminster  landing,  do  you  think  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"  How  do  you  know  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  We  have  not  come  far  enough  yet  for  the 
Westminster  landing,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"  How  shall  you  know  when  we  get  there  ?  " 
asked  Rollo. 

"  I  shall  inquire,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  Besides, 
the  Westminster  landing  must  be  at  Westminster 
Bridge,  and  Westminster  Bridge  is  above  Hun- 
gerford  Bridge  ;  and  I  shall  know  Hungerford 
Bridge  when  I  see  it,  for  it  is  an  iron  suspension 
bridge,  without  arches.  It  is  straight  and  slen 
der,  being  supported  from  above  by  monstrous 
chains  ;  and  it  is  very  narrow,  being  only  intend 
ed  for  foot  passengers." 

"  Well,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  will  look  out  for  it." 

"  I  meant  to  have  asked  you,"  said  Mr.  George, 
"while  we  were  on  London  Bridge,  whether  it 
would  be  best  for  us  to  take  lodgings  in  the 
city  or  at  the  West  End.  Which  do  you 
think?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Rollo.  "  Which  do  you 
think  would  be  best  ?  " 


52  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  West  End  and  the  city.  Hungerford  Bridge. 

"  It  is  more  genteel  to  be  at  the  "West  End," 
said  Mr.  George. 

"  I  don't  care  any  thing  about  that,"  said 
Rollo. 

"  Nor  do  I  much,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"  I  want  to  go,"  said  Rollo,  "  where  we  can 
have  the  best  time." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"  And  see  the  most  to  amuse  us,"  said  Rollo. 

"  I  think,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  on  the  whole, 
that  the  West  End  will  be  the  best  for  us.  There 
are  a  few  great  things  in  the  city  to  be  seen  ;  but 
the  every-day  walks,  and  little  excursions,  and 
street  sights  are  altogether  more  interesting  at 
the  West  End.  So  we  had  better  take  our  lodg 
ings  there,  and  go  to  the  city  when  we  wish  to  by 
the  omnibuses  that  go  down  the  Strand." 

"  Or  by  these  boats  on  the  river,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  or  by  these  boats." 

Not  long  after  this,  the  steamboat  came  to 
Hungerford  Bridge.  Rollo  knew  the  bridge  at 
once,  as  soon  as  it  came  into  view,  it  was  of  so 
light  and  slender  a  construction.  Instead  of  be 
ing  supported,  like  the  other  bridges,  upon  arches 
built  up  from  below,  it  was  suspended  from  im 
mense  chains  that  were  stretched  across  the  river 
above.  The  ends  of  these  chains  passed  over  the 
tops  of  lofty  piers,  which  were  built  for  the  pur- 


T  H  E     R  I  V  E  R  .  53 

Westminster  Bridge  in  sight.  Where  King  Charles  was  beheaded. 

pose  of  supporting  them,  one  on  each  side,  near 
the  shore.  The  steamer  glided  swiftly  under  this 
bridge,  and  immediately  afterwards  the  Westmin 
ster  Bridge  came  into  view. 

"  Now,"  said  Rollo,  "  we  are  coming  to  our 
landing." 

When  the  steamer  at  length  made-  the  landing, 
Rollo  and  Mr.  George  got  out  and  went  up  to 
the  shore.  They  came  out  in  a  street  called 
Bridge  Street,  which  led  them  up  to  another  street 
called  Whitehall. 

"  Whitehall,"  said  Mr.  George,  reading  the 
name  on  the  corner.  "  This  must  be  the  street 
where  King  Charles  I.  was  beheaded.  Let  me 
stop  and  see." 

So  Mr.  George  stopped  on  the  sidewalk,  and, 
taking  a  little  London  guide  book  out  of  his 
pocket,  he  looked  at  the  index  to  find  Whitehall. 
Then  he  turned  to  the  part  of  the  book  referred 
to,  and  there  he  found  a  long  statement  in  respect 
to  King  Charles's  execution,  which  ended  by  say 
ing.  "  There  cannot  be  a  doubt,  therefore,  that  he 
was  executed  in  front  of  the  building  which 
stands  opposite  the  Horse  Guards." 

"  I'll  inquire  where  the  Horse  Guards  is,"  said 
Mr.  George. 

"  Where  the  horse  guards  are"  said  Rollo,  cor 
recting  what  he  supposed  must  be  an  error  in  hi? 
uncle's  grammar. 


54  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Sentries  on  horseback.  The  uniform.  Rullo's  wish. 

"  No,"  rejoined  Mr.  George,  "  The  Horse 
Guards  is  the  name  of  a  building." 

"  Then  this  must  be  it,"  said  Eollo,  pointing  to 
a  building  not  far  before  them  ;  "  for  here  are 
two  horse  guards  standing  sentry  at  the  doors 
of  it." 

Mr.  George  looked  and  saw  a  very  splendid 
edifice,  having  a  fine  architectural  front  that  ex 
tended  for  a  considerable  distance  along  the 
street,  though  a  little  way  back  from  it.  There 
was  a  great  gateway  in  the  centre ;  and  near 
the  two  ends  of  the  building  there  were  two 
porches  on  the  street,  with  a  splendidly-dressed 
horseman,  completely  armed,  and  mounted  on  an 
elegant  black  charger,  in  each  of  them.  The 
horse  of  each  of  these  sentries  was  caparisoned 
with  the  most  magnificent  military  trappings  ; 
and,  as  the  horseman  sat  silent  and  motionless  in 
the  saddle,  with  his  sword  by  his  side,  his  pistols 
at  the  holster,  and  his  bright  steel  helmet,  sur 
mounted  with  a  white  plume,  on  his  head,  Rollo 
thought  that  he  was  the  finest-looking  soldier  he 
had  ever  seen. 

"  I  should  like  to  see  a  whole  troop  of  such 
soldiers  as  that,"  said  he. 

"  That  building  must  be  the  Horse  Guards," 
said  Mr.  George  ;  "  but  I  will  be  sure.  I  will 
ask  this  policeman." 


THE    POLICEMAN.  55 

The  policeman  and  the  beggar  hoys.    Conversation  with  the  policeman. 


CHAPTER    IY. 
THE    POLICEMAN. 

THE  policeman  was  a  very  well-dressed  and 
gentlemanly-looking  personage.  He  was  stand 
ing,  at  the  time  when  Mr.  George  saw  him,  on 
the  edge  of  the  sidewalk,  looking  at  some  beggar 
boys,  who  had  brooms  in  their  hands,  as  if  they 
were  going  to  sweep  the  crossings.  The  boys, 
however,  when  they  saw  that  the  policeman  was 
looking  at  them,  seemed  alarmed,  and  one  calling 
to  the  other,  said,  "  Joey  !  "  and  then  they  both 
ran  away  round  a  corner. 

Mr.  George  advanced  to  the  policeman,  and 
asked  him  if  that  building  was  the  Horse  Guards. 
The  policeman  listened  to  and  answered  his  ques 
tion  in  a  very  polite  and  gentlemanly  manner. 
Mr.  George  made  several  additional  inquiries 
in  respect  to  the  building,  and  received  in  re 
ply  to  them  a  great  deal  of  useful  information. 
Rollo  stood  by  all  the  while,  listening  to  the  con 
versation,  and  observing  with  the  greatest  inter 
est  the  details  of  the  uniform  which  the  police- 


56  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  uniform  of  the  London  policeman.  His  duties  and  authority. 

man  wore.  He  was  dressed,  Rollo  saw,  in  a  suit 
of  dark  blue,  which  fitted  his  form  very  nicely. 
The  coat  had  a  standing  collar,  and  was  buttoned 
snugly  up  to  the  chin  with  bright  buttons.  On 
the  collar  was  worked  the  letter  and  number,  A 
335,  in  white  braid,  which  denoted  the  division 
that  this  officer  belonged  to,  and  his  number  in 
the  division.  The  hat  was  peculiar,  too,  being 
glazed  at  the  top  a;id  at  the  brim,  and  having  an 
appearance  as  if  covered  with  cloth  at  the  sides. 
The  figure  of  the  policeman  was  very  erect,  and 
his  air  and  bearing  very  gentlemanly,  and  he  an 
swered  all  Mr.  George's  inquiries  in  the  most 
affable  manner. 

Every  part  of  London  is  provided  with  police 
men  of  this  character,  whose  business  it  is  to  pre 
serve  order  in  the  streets,  to  arrest  criminals,  to 
take  care  of  lost  children,  to  guide  strangers,  and 
to  answer  any  inquiries  that  any  person  may 
wish  to  make  in  respect  to  the  streets,  squares, 
public  buildings,  and  other  objects  of  interest  in 
the  metropolis.  The  whole  number  of  these  po 
licemen  is  very  great,  there  being  near  six  thou 
sand  of  them  in  all.  They  are  all  young  and 
active  men  ;  and  in  order  that  they  may  perform 
their  duties  in  an  efficient  manner,  they  are 
clothed  with  a  great  deal  of  authority  ;  but  they 
exercise  their  power  with  so  much  gentleness  and 


THE    POLICEMAN.  57 

The  beat.  The  station.  The  arrest  which  Rollo  witnessed. 

discretion  that  they  are  universal  favorites  with 
all  the  people  who  traverse  the  streets,  except, 
perhaps,  the  beggar  boys  and  vagabonds.  They 
stand  in  perpetual  awe  of  them. 

Each  policeman  has  his  own  district,  which  is 
called  his  beat ;  and  he  walks  to  and  fro  in  this 
beat  all  the  time  while  he  is  on  duty.  There  is 
a  station  near  this  beat,  to  which  he  takes  any  de 
linquents  or  criminals  that  he  may  have  occasion 
to  arrest,  in  order  that  they  may  be  examined, 
and,  if  found  guilty,  sent  to  prison. 

One  day  Rollo  saw  a  policeman  taking  a  pris 
oner  to  the  station.  It  was  a  boy  about  thirteen 
years  old.  The  policeman  walked  very  fast,  and 
the  boy  ran  along  by  his  side.  The  policeman 
took  hold  of  the  collar  of  the  boy's  jacket  be 
hind  with  his  hand,  and  so  conducted  him  along. 
There  was  a  crowd  of  young  men  and  boys  fol 
lowing,  some  walking  fast  and  some  running,  to 
see  what  would  become  of  the  prisoner. 

Rollo  was  at  first  inclined  to  join  this  party,  in 
order  that  he  might  see  too  ;  but  Mr.  George 
thought  it  would  be  better  not  to  do  so.  Rollo 
then  began  to  pity  the  poor  prisoner  boy  very  much, 
in  view  of  the  expression  of  dreadful  terror  and 
distress  which  his  countenance  had  worn  when 
he  passed  by  him,  and  he  was  very  anxious  to 
know  what  he  had  been  doing.  He  accordingly 


58 


ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 


Hollo  asks  the  orange  woman  what  the  boy's  offence  was. 

stopped  to  ask  an  orange  woman,  who  stood  with 
a  basket  of  oranges  near  a  post  at  a  corner. 


THE    A1UIEST. 


"  He  has  been  beating   and  abusing   a  little 
boy,"  said  the  woman,  "  and  spilling  all  his  milk/" 


THE    POLICEMAN.  59 

Sympathy  for  prisoners.       Hollo's  adventure  in  trying  to  find  his  way. 

"  Come,  Rollo/'  said  Mr.  George,  u  we  must  go 
along." 

Rollo  would  have  liked  very  much  to  have 
inquired  further  into  this  transaction  ;  but  he  re 
linquished  the  idea,  in  compliance  with  his  uncle's 
wish.  He  found,  however,  that  his  sympathy  for 
the  poor  prisoner,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  was 
very  much  diminished  by  knowing  the  offence  of 
which  he  had  been  guilty. 

Rollo  had  an  opportunity  to  experience  the  ad 
vantages  of  the  London  system  of  police  three  or 
four  days  after  this,  in  an  emergency,  which,  as  I 
am  now  speaking  of  the  policemen,  I  will  mention 
here.  He  had  been  to  see  the  British  Museum 
with  his  uncle  George,  and  had  undertaken  to  find 
his  way  back  to  the  lodgings  in  Northumberland 
Court  alone,  his  uncle  having  had  occasion  at 
that  time  to  go  in  another  direction.  The  dis 
tance  from  the  museum  to  Northumberland  Court 
was  only  about  a  mile  ;  but  the  intervening  streets 
were  very  short,  narrow,  and  intricate,  and  were 
inclined  towards  each  other  at  all  possible  an 
gles,  so  that  Rollo  very  soon  lost  his  way.  In 
fact,  he  soon  became  completely  turned  round  ; 
and,  instead  of  going  towards  Northumberland 
Court,  he  went  wandering  on  in  exactly  a  contra 
ry  direction.  He  turned  this  way  and  that,  and 
looked  at  the  names  of  the  streets  on  all  the  cor- 


60  R  o  L  L  o    IN    LONDON. 

Lost.  Why  the  sun  did  not  guide  him.  An  emergency. 

ners,  in  hopes  to  find  some  one  he  had  heard 
of  before.  Finally  he  became  completely  be 
wildered. 

"  I  shall  have  to  give  it  up,"  said  he  to  himself. 
"  If  it  was  a  pleasant  day,  I  could  go  by  the  sun  ; 
for  by  keeping  to  the  south  I  should,  sooner  or 
later,  come  to  the  river.'7 

Unfortunately  for  Rollo,  as  is  usually  the  case 
in  London,  the  sun  was  not  to  be  seen.  The  sky 
was  obscured  with  an  impenetrable  veil  of  smoke 
and  vapor. 

"  I'll  take  a  cab,"  said  Rollo,  "  at  the  first  stand, 
and  tell  the  cabman  to  drive  me  to  Northumber 
land  Court.  He  must  find  where  it  is  the  best 
way  he  can." 

Rollo  put  his  hands  in  his  pockets  as  he  said  this, 
and  found,  to  his  consternation,  that  he  had  no 
money.  He  had  left  his  purse  in  the  pocket  of 
another  suit  of  clothes  at  home.  He  immediate 
ly  decided  that  he  must  give  up  the  plan  of  tak 
ing  a  cab,  since  he  had  no  money  to  pay  for  it. 
This  difficulty,  however,  was,  in  fact,  by  no  means 
insuperable,  as  he  might  have  taken  a  cab,  and 
paid  the  fare  when  he  arrived  at  his  lodgings,  by 
asking  the  man  to  wait  at  the  door  while  he  went 
up  to  get  his  purse.  He  did  not,  however,  think 
of  this  plan,  but  decided  at  once  that  he  must 
find  some  other  way  of  getting  home  than  by 
taking  a  cab. 


THE    POLICEMAN.  61 

Looking  for  a  policeman.  Advice.  Hollo's  explanation. 

"  I  will  ask  a  policeman,"  said  he. 

So  lie  began  to  look  about  for  a  policeman ; 
and  as  there  are  so  many  thousands  of  them  on 
duty  in  London,  one  can  almost  always  be  very 
readily  found  ;  and,  when  found,  he  is  instantly 
known  by  his  uniform. 

Rollo  met  the  policeman  walking  towards  him 
on  the  sidewalk. 

"  I  want  to  find  my  way  to  Northumberland 
Court,"  said  he.  "  Will  you  be  good  enough  to 
tell  me  which  way  to  go  ?  " 

The  policeman  looked  at  Hollo  a  moment  with 
a  kind  and  friendly  expression  of  countenance. 

"  Why,  it  is  two  miles  and  a  half  from  here," 
said  he,  "  at  least,  and  a  very  difficult  way  to  find. 
I  think  you  had  better  take  a  cab." 

"  But  I  have  not  any  money,"  said  Rollo. 

The  policeman  looked  at  Rollo  again  with  as 
near  an  approacli  to  an  expression  of  surprise  on 
his  countenance  as  it  is  possible  for  a  policeman 
to  manifest,  since  it  is  a  part  of  his  professional 
duty  never  to  be  surprised  at  any  thing  or  thrown 
off  his  guard.  Rollo  was,  however,  so  well 
dressed,  and  was  so  gentlemanly  in  his  air  and 
bearing,  that  almost  any  one  would  have  won 
dered  a  little  to  hear  him  say  that  he  had  no  money. 

"  I  accidentally  left  my  money  all  at  home," 
said  Rollo,  by  way  of  explanation. 


62  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Hollo's  account  of  himself.    The  policeman's  inquiries.    "  Pass  him  along." 

"  Yery  well,"  said  the  policeman  ;  "  come  with 
me." 

So  Rollo  and  the  policeman  walked  along  to 
gether.  As  they  walked  they  fell  into  conversa 
tion,  and  Hollo  told  the  policeman  who  he  was, 
and  how  he  came  to  lose  his  way.  The  police 
man  was  very  much  interested  when  he  heard 
that  his  young  friend  was  an  American  •  and  he 
asked  him  a  great  many  questions  about  New 
York  and  Boston.  He  said  he  had  a  brother  in 
Boston,  and  another  in  Cincinnati. 

After  walking  the  distance  of  two  or  three 
blocks,  the  policeman  said,  — 

"  This  is  the  end  of  my  beat.  I  must  now  put 
you  in  charge  of  another  officer." 

So  saying,  he  made  a  signal  to  another  police 
man,  who  was  on  the  opposite  sidewalk,  and  then 
going  up  to  him  with  Rollo,  he  said,  — 

"  This  young  gentleman  wishes  to  go  to  North 
umberland  Court.  Pass  him  along.  He  is  from 
America." 

So  Rollo  walked  with  the  second  policeman  to 
the  end  of  Ms  beat,  talking  with  him  all  the  way 
about  America  and  about  what  he  had  seen  in 
London.  At  the  end  of  the  second  policeman's 
beat  Rollo  was  placed  in  the  charge  of  a  third 
policeman ;  and  thus  he  was  conducted  all  the 
way,  until  he  came  in  sight  of  Charing  Cross 


THE   POLICE  MAN.  63 

Charing  Cross  and  the  Nelson  monument.     The  policeman's  equipments. 

by  a  succession  of  policemen,  without  ever  mak 
ing  it  necessary  for  any  one  of  them  to  leave 
his  beat.  As  soon  as  Charing  Cross  came  into 
view,  with  the  tall  Nelson  monument,  in  Trafal 
gar  Square,  to  mark  it,  Rollo  at  once  knew  where 
he  was.  So  he  told  the  policeman  who  had  him 
in  charge  there  that  he  could  go  the  rest  of  the 
way  alone  •  and  so,  thanking  him  for  his  kind 
ness  and  bidding  him  good  by,  he  ran  gayly 
home. 

Thus  the  policemen  are,  in  many  ways,  the 
stranger's  friends.  They  are  to  be  found  every 
where  ;  and  they  are  always  ready  to  render  any 
service  which  the  passenger  may  require  of  them. 
Each  one  is  furnished  with  a  baton,  which  is  his 
badge  of  office  ;  a  rattle,  with  which  he  calls  other 
policemen  to  his  aid  when  he  requires  them  ;  a 
lantern  for  the  night ;  and  an  oilskin  cape  for 
rainy  weather.  In  winter,  too,  they  have  great 
coats,  made  in  a  peculiar  fashion. 

But  to  return  to  the  Horse  Guards.  After  Mr. 
George  had  finished  his  conversation  with  the 
policeman  about  the  Horse  Guards,  he  said  to 
Rollo  that  he  was  going  over  to  the  other  side  of 
the  street,  in  order  to  get  a  better  view  of  the 
building.  So  he  led  the  way,  and  Rollo  followed 
him.  When  they  reached  the  opposite  sidewalk, 


64  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  Horse  Guards  again.  The  gateway  and  passage. 

Mr.  George  took  his  station  on  the  margin  of  it. 
and  began  to  survey  the  edifice  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  street  with  great  apparent  interest. 

"  I  don't  see  any  thing  very  remarkable  about 
it,"  said  Eollo. 

"  It  is  the  head  quarters  of  the  British  army,'; 
said  Mr.  George. 

"  What  elegant  black  horses  those  troopers  are 
upon  !  "  said  Rollo. 

"  It  is  the  centre  of  a  power,"  said  Mr.  George, 
talking,  apparently,  to  himself,  "  that  is  felt  in 
every  quarter  of  the  world." 

"  I  should  like  to  have  such  a  uniform  as  that/7 
said  Rollo,  "  and  to  be  mounted  on  such  a  horse  ; 
but  then,  I  should  rather  ride  about  the  city  than 
to  stand  still  all  the  time  in  one  of  those  sentry 
boxes." 

"About  the  town,  you  mean,"  said  Mr.  George. 

Rollo  here  observed  that  there  was  an  open 
gateway  in  front  of  the  Horse  Guards,  and  be 
yond  it  an  arched  passage,  leading  directly 
through  the  centre  of  the  building  to  some  place 
in  the  rear  of  it.  There  were  a  great  many  peo 
ple  coming  and  going  through  this  passage  way  ; 
so  many,  in  fact,  as  to  make  it  evident  that  it  was 
a  public  thoroughfare.  Rollo  asked  his  uncle 
George  where  that  passage  way  led  to. 

"  It  leads  to  the  rear  of  the  Horse  Guards," 


THE   POLICEMAN.  65 

The  parade  ground.     The  location  in  which  Mr.  George  took  lodgings. 

said  Mr.  George,  "  where  there  is  a  great  parade 
ground,  and  through  the  parade  ground  to  Hyde" 
Park.  I  have  studied  it  out  on  the  map." 

"  Let  us  go  through  and  see  the  parade  ground," 
said  Hollo. 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  not  now.  We  had 
better  go  some  morning  when  the  troops  are  pa 
rading  there.  We  must  go  now  and  look  out 
our  lodgings." 

So  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  walked  onr  and  about 
half  an  hour  afterwards  Mr.  George  engaged 
lodgings  in  a  place  near  the  junction  of  the 
Strand  with  Charing  Cross,  called  Northumber 
land  Court. 


66  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  difference  between  the  travelling  systems  in  England  and  America. 


CHAPTER    Y. 
LODGINGS. 

THE  whole  system  of  providing  for  travellers 
at  hotels  and  lodging  houses  in  England  is  en 
tirely  different  from  the  one  adopted  in  America. 
In  America  all  persons,  in  respect  to  the  rights  and 
privileges  which  they  enjoy,  are,  in  theory,  on  a 
footing  of  perfect  equality  ;  and  thus,  in  all  pub 
lic  resorts,  such  as  hotels,  boarding  houses,  public 
places  of  amusement,  and  travelling  conveyances, 
all  classes  mingle  together  freely  and  without  re 
serve.  At  the  hotels  and  boarding  houses,  they 
breakfast,  dine,  and  sup  together  at  the  public 
tables  ;  and  even  if  they  have  private  parlors  of 
their  own,  they  do  not,  ordinarily,  confine  them 
selves  to  them,  but  often  seek  society  and  amuse 
ment  in  the  public  drawing  rooms.  At  the  places 
of  amusement  and  in  the  public  conveyances  they 
all  pay  the  same  price,  and  are  entitled  to  the 
same  privileges,  and  they  only  get  the  best  seats 
when  they  come  early  to  secure  them.  This,  in 
America,  is  the  general  rule  ;  though  of  course 


LODGINGS.  67 


Divisions  of  society  in  England.  Hotels.  Lodgings. 

there  are  many  exceptions,  especially  in  the  great- 
cities.  In  England  it  is  altogether  different. 
There  society  is  divided  into  a  great  many  dif 
ferent  ranks  and  degrees,  the  people  of  each 
of  which  keep  themselves  entirely  separate  and 
distinct  from  all  the  others.  The  cars  of  the 
railway  trains  are  divided  into  four  or  five  class 
es,  and  travellers  take  one  or  the  other  of  them, 
according  to  their  wealth  or  their  rank,  and  pay 
accordingly.  In  the  hotels  and  lodging  houses 
every  arrangement  is  made  to  keep  each  guest  or 
party  of  guests  as  separate  as  possible  from  all 
the  rest.  There  are  no  public  tables  or  public 
drawing  rooms.  Each  party,  on  its  arrival  at 
the  hotel,  takes  a  suit  of  rooms,  consisting,  at 
least,  of  a  sitting  room  and  bed  room,  and  every 
thing  that  they  require  is  served  to  them  sepa 
rately  there,  just  as  if  there  were  no  other  guests 
in  the  house.  It  is  the  same  with  the  boarding 
houses,  or  lodging  houses  as  they  are  commonly 
called.  Each  boarder  has  his  own  apartment, 
and  whatever  he  calls  for  is  sent  to  him  there. 
He  pays  so  much  a  day  for  his  room  or  rooms, 
and  then  for  his  board  he  is  charged  for  every 
separate  article  that  he  orders ;  so  that,  so  far 
as  he  takes  his  meals  away  from  his  lodgings, 
either  by  breakfasting  or  dining,  or  taking  tea  at 
the  houses  of  friends,  or  at  public  coffee  rooms, 


68  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

"Furnished  Apartments."  Northumberland  Court. 

he  has  nothing  to  pay  at  his  lodging  house  except* 
ing  the  rent  of  his  rooms. 

There  are  a  great  many  of  these  lodging  houses 
about  London.  They  are  found  on  all  the 
side  streets  leading  off  from  all  the  great  thor 
oughfares.  They  are  known,  generally,  by  a  lit 
tle  card  in  the  window,  with  the  words,  "  FUR 
NISHED  APARTMENTS,"  written  upon  it.  Mr. 
George  and  Rollo  found  lodgings,  as  was  stated 
in  the  last  chapter,  in  a  house  of  this  kind,  situ 
ated  in  Northumberland  Court. 

Northumberland  Court  is  so  named  from  its 
being  situated  on  a  part  of  what  were  formerly 
the  grounds  of  the  town  mansion  of  the  famous 
dukes  of  Northumberland.  I  have  already  stated, 
some  chapters  back,  that  in  former  times  the  Eng 
lish  nobles  built  magnificent  houses  on  the  great 
banks  of  the  Thames,  between  the  road  called 
the  Strand,  which  led  from  Westminster  towards 
London,  and  the  banks  of  the  river.  Since  the 
days  when  these  mansions  were  erected,  the  whole 
space  around  them,  between  the  Strand  and  the 
river,  has  become  completely  filled  with  streets, 
squares,  courts,  and  lanes,  the  names  of  which 
were  often  derived  from  those  of  the  families  on 
whose  grounds  they  were  built.  The  court  where 
Mr.  George  and  Rollo  found  their  lodgings  was 
called  Northumberland  Court  for  this  reason. 


.LODGINGS.  69 


The  house  of  the  Duke  of  Northumberland.  The  court. 

The  entrance  to  it  was  under  an  archway  a  few 
steps  beyond  the  great  Northumberland  House 
itself —  a  massive  and  venerable  edifice,  that  is 
still  standing.  In  fact,  the  Duke  of  Northumber 
land  resides  in  it,  when  he  is  in  town,  to  this  day. 

Mr.  George  and  Hollo  noticed  the  front  of 
Northumberland  House  as  they  passed  it,  on  the 
day  when  they  were  looking  out  for  lodgings,  as 
described  in  the  last  chapter,  and,  very  soon  com 
ing  to  the  archway  which  led  into  the  court,  they 
stopped  to  look  in.  There  was  a  small  iron 
gate  across  the  entrance  to  the  archway,  but  it 
was  open. 

"  This  is  a  cunning-looking  place,"  said  Mr. 
George  ;  "  let  us  look  in." 

So  he  and  Rollo  walked  in  under  the  archway. 

"  This  is  a  snug  place/7  said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  this  is  just  the 
place  for  us.  We  will  look  around  and  find  the 
best  house,  and  then  knock  at  the  door  and  look 
at  the  rooms." 

So,  after  walking  up  and  down  the  court  once, 
Mr.  George  made  his  selection,  and  knocked  at 
the  door  with  a  long  double  rap,  such  as  is  usual 
ly  given  by  gentlemen. 

Yery  soon  a  pleasant-looking  servant  girl 
opened  the  door.  Mr.  George  told  her  that  they 
had  come  to  look  at  the  rooms  ;  whereupon  the 


70  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Looking  at  rooms.  Margaret.  The  apartments. 

girl  invited  them  to  walk  in,  and  led  the  way  up 
stairs. 

This  conversation  took  place  while  they  were 
going  up  stairs  ;  and  just  as  they  reached  the 
head  of  the  stairs,  Mr.  George  asked  the  girl 
what  her  name  was.  She  said  it  was  Margaret. 

Mr.  George  said  he  wished  to  have  a  sitting 
room  and  bed  room.  He  did  not  care,  he  said,  if 
there  were  two  bed  rooms,  if  they  were  small. 
The  girl  said  there  was  a  sitting  room  and  two 
bed  rooms  on  the  first  floor,  all  connected  to 
gether. 

Margaret  then  led  the  way  into  the  sitting 
room.  It  looked  very  snug  and  comfortable  ; 
though,  compared  with  the  bright  and  cheerful 
appearance  of  New  York  rooms,  it  had  rather  a 
dark  and  dingy  appearance.  The  paper  was 
dark,  the  paint  was  dark,  and  the  furniture  dark 
er  still.  There  was  a  sofa  on  one  side  of  the 
room,  and  two  or  three  comfortable  arm  chairs. 
There  was  a  round  table  in  the  middle  of  the 
floor,  and  several  other  smaller  tables  in  different 
places  about  the  room.  There  was  a  sideboard, 
also,  with  a  clock  and  various  ornaments  upon  it. 
There  was  a  mirror  over  the  mantle  shelf,  and 
another  between  the  windows  ;  and  various  en 
gravings,  in  frames  that  had  evidently  once  been 
gilt,  were  hanging  about  the  walls. 


LODGINGS.  71 


Kollo's  room.  Prices.  Mr.  George's  conclusion. 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  George,  as  he  looked  about 
the  room,  "  I  don't  know  but  that  this  will  do  for 
us,  Rollo.  What  do  you  think  ?  " 

"  I  like  it  pretty  well,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Now  let  us  see  the  bed  rooms,  Margaret," 
said  Mr.  George. 

So  Margaret  led  the  way  across  the  little  entry 
to  one  of  the  bed  rooms.  The  room  had  the 
same  dingy  appearance  that  had  been  observed  in 
the  sitting  room,  but  it  was  abundantly  furnished 
with  every  thing  necessary  for  such  an  apartment. 
Margaret  led  the  way  through  this  bed  room  to  a 
smaller  one,  which  was  so  situated  that  it  commu 
nicated  both  with  the  large  bed  room  and  the  sit 
ting  room. 

"  Ah,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  this  is  just  the  place 
for  you,  Rollo." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  shall  like  it  very  much." 

"  What  is  the  price  of  these  three  rooms  ?  " 
said  Mr.  George,  turning  to  Margaret. 

"  Twenty-seven  shillings  a  week,  sir,  if  you 
please,"  said  Margaret. 

"  Twenty-seven  shillings  a  week,"  said  Mr. 
George,  repeating  the  words  to  himself  in  a  mus 
ing  manner.  "  That  must  be  about  a  dollar  a 
day,  reckoning  four  shillings  to  the  dollar. 
Well,  Rollo.  I  think  you  and  I  can  afford  to  pay 


72  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Mr.  George  takes  the  rooms.          The  landlady.         Making  a  deposit. 

half  a  dollar  a  piece  for  our  rooms,  considering 
that  it  is  London." 

"  Yes/'  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  think  we  can." 

"  We  will  take  the  rooms,  then,"  said  Mr. 
George,  turning  to  Margaret. 

"  Very  well,  sir,"  said  Margaret ;  "  as  you  go 
down  stairs  I  will  speak  to  my  mistress." 

So  Margaret  led  the  way  down  stairs,  and  Mr. 
George  and  Rollo  followed.  At  the  foot  of  the 
stairs  they  were  met  by  the  landlady,  who  came 
out  from  a  basement  room  to  see  them.  Mr. 
George  told  the  landlady  that  they  would  take 
the  rooms  ;  and  he  handed  her  his  card,  in  order 
that  she  might  know  his  name. 

"  And  perhaps,  sir,"  said  she,  "  you  would  be 
willing  to  make  a  deposit  in  advance." 

"  Certainly,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"  Because  sometimes,"  said  the  landlady,  "  a 
gentleman  engages  rooms,  and  then  something 
happens  to  prevent  his  coming,  and  so  we  lose  all 
our  trouble  of  putting  them  in  order  for  him,  and, 
perhaps,  lose  the  opportunity  of  renting  them  to 
another  lodger  besides." 

"  Certainly,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  It  is  perfect 
ly  right  you  should  have  a  deposit.  How  much 
shall  it  be  ?  " 

'  Perhaps  you  would  be  willing  to  leave  five 


LODGINGS.  73 


Going  for  the  luggage.  Getting  settled. 

shillings   with   me,"   said   the  landlady ;    "  that 
would  be  sufficient." 

Mr.  George  expressed  himself  entirely  satisfied 
with  this  arrangement,  and,  giving  the  landlady 
five  shillings,  he  went  away,  saying  that  he  and 
Rollo  would  return  in  the  course  of  a  couple  of 
hours  with  their  luggage.  He  then  went  out  into 
the  street,  called  a  cab  from  off  the  stand  in  front 
of  Morley's  Hotel,  drove  down  the  Strand  to  the 
city,  through  the  city  to  London  Bridge,  and  over 
the  bridge  to  the  railway  station.  The  por 
ter  brought  out  his  luggage  and  put  it  upon  the 
top  of  the  cab  ;  and  then  Mr.  George  and  Eollo 
got  in,  and  the  cabman  drove  them  back  again 
to  the  West  End.  The  luggage  was  carried  up  to 
their  rooms  ;  and  thus  our  two  travellers  found 
themselves  regularly  installed  in  their  London 
lodgings. 


74  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 


Sunday  morning  in  Mr.  George's  apartments. 


CHAPTER   YI. 
BREAKFAST  . 

"  Now,  Hollo,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  ring  the  bell, 
and  we  will  see  what  Margaret  can  let  us  have 
for  breakfast." 

It  was  Sunday  morning,  a  day  or  two  after 
Mr.  George  and  Rollo  arrived  in  London.  Mr. 
George  had  been  sitting  at  a  small  table  at  one 
of  the  windows,  writing  a  letter,  and  Rollo  had 
been  sitting  at  the  other  window,  amusing  him 
self,  sometimes  by  looking  at  the  pictures  in  a 
book,  and  at  others  by  watching  the  little  scenes 
and  incidents  which  were  continually  occurring 
at  the  doors  of  the  houses  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  court  below. 

In  obedience  to  his  uncle's  request,  Rollo  pulled 
one  of  the  bellropes  which  hung  by  the  side  of 
the  fire.  A  minute  or  two  afterwards  Margaret's 
gentle  tap  was  heard  at  the  door. 

"  Come  in,"  said  Mr.  George. 

Margaret  opened  the  door  and  came  in. 

"  Well,  Margaret."   said   Mr.    George,   "  what 


BREAKFAST.  75 

Ordering  breakfast.  Conversation  with  the  waiter. 

can  you  let  us  have  for  breakfast  this  morn 
ing  ?  " 

"  You  can  have  whatever  you  like,"  said  Mar 
garet. 

The  English  waiters  and  servant  girls  always 
say  you  can  have  whatever  you  like  ;  but  it  does 
not  always  prove  in  the  end  that  the  promise  can 
be  realized. 

"Can  you  let  us  have  a  fried  sole  ?  "  asked  Mr. 
George. 

"  Why,  no,  sir,"  said  Margaret,  "  not  Sunday 
morning.  You  see,  sir,  they  don't  bring  round 
the  soles  Sunday  morning." 

"  Muffins,  then,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"  Nor  muffins  either,"  replied  Margaret.  "  We 
can't  get  any  muffins  Sunday  morning." 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  what  can  you  get  us 
most  conveniently  ?  " 

"  That's  just  as  you  like,  sir,"  said  Margaret. 
"  You  can  have  whatever  you  like." 

"  Why,  no,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  for  you  just 
said  we  could  not  have  soles  or  muffins." 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  Margaret,  innocently,  "  that's 
because  it  is  Sunday  morning,  and  they  don't 
bring  round  soles  or  muffins  Sunday  morning." 

Mr.  George  began  to  perceive  by  this  time  that 
his  principles  of  logic  and  those  of  Margaret 
were  so  entirely  different  from  each  other  that 


76  ROLLO    IN   LONDON. 

The  singing  boy  who  came  into  the  court. 

there  was  no  possibility  of  bringing  any  dis 
cussion  to  a  point ;  and  he  very  wisely  gave  up 
the  contest,  telling  Margaret  that  she  might  let 
them  have  a  cup  of  coffee,  and  any  thing  else  she 
pleased. 

"  You  can  have  a  mutton  chop,  sir,"  said  Mar 
garet,  "  and  rolls." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  that  will  be 
just  the  thing." 

So  Margaret  went  down  to  prepare  the  break 
fast  ;  and  Mr.  George,  taking  his  seat  on  the  sofa, 
began  to  turn  over  the  leaves  of  his  guide  book, 
to  see  if  he  could  find  out  what  time  the  service 
commenced  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

"Uncle  George!"  said  Rollo,  "look  here! 
See  this  strange-looking  boy  coming  into  the 
court ! " 

"  How  does  he  look  ?  "  asked  Mr.  George. 

"  He  looks  very  poor,"  said  Rollo,  "  and  miser 
able,  and  his  head  is  as  big  as  a  bushel  basket ! 
He  is  going  to  sing,"  Rollo  added.  "  Hark  !  " 

"  Mr.  George  listened,  and  heard  the  voice  of 
a  child,  beginning  to  sing  a  plaintive  ballad,  in 
the  court  below. 

"  Come  and  see  him,"  said  Rollo. 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  I  don't  wish  to  see 
him.  You  may  throw  him  out  a  penny,  if  you 
choose." 


BREAKFAST.  77 

Hollo  gives  the  boy  a  penny.  Laying  tl;e  table. 

"  Well,"  said  Rollo, "  as  soon  as  he  has  finished 
his  song." 

So  Eollo  waited  till  the  boy  had  finished  sing 
ing  his  song  ;  and  then,  lifting  up  the  window  a 
little  way,  he  threw  a  penny  to  him,  shooting  it 
out  through  the  crack.  Mr.  George  heard  the 
chink  of  the  penny  as  it  fell  upon  the  pavement 
below. 

"  He  sees  it !  "  said  Eollo.  "  He  is  picking  it 
up .  He  made  me  a  bow ! " 

About  this  time  Margaret  came  in  and  spread 
the  cloth  for  breakfast.  Soon  afterwards  she 
brought  the  breakfast  up.  She,  however,  brought 
only  one  cup  for  the  coffee,  having  taken  Mr. 
George's  order,  to  let  them  have  a  cup  of  coffee, 
somewhat  too  literally.  The  truth  is,  that  inas 
much  as,  at  the  English  lodging  houses,  every 
thing  that  is  called  for  is  charged  separately, 
the  servants  are,  very  properly,  quite  careful  not 
to  bring  any  thing  unless  it  is  distinctly  ordered, 
lest  they  might  seem  to  wish  to  force  upon  the 
traveller  more  than  he  desired  to  pay  for. 

Margaret  was,  however,  it  appears,  a  little  un 
certain  in  this  case  ;  for  she  asked  Mr.  George, 
as  she  put  the  waiter  on  the  table,  whether  he 
meant  to  have  two  cups  brought,  or  only  one. 
He  told  her  two  ;  and  so  she  went  down  and 


78  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo  taking  breakfast  in  their  apartments 

brought  another,  taking  the  coffee  pot  down  with 
her,  too,  in  order  to  add  to  it  a  fresh  supply  of 
coffee.  In  due  time  every  tiling  was  ready  ;  and 


BHEAKFAST. 


Mr.  George  and  Hollo,  drawing  their  chairs  up 
to  the  table,  had  an  excellent  breakfast,  all  by 
themselves.  Mr.  George  remained  quietly  in  his 


BREAKFAST. 


79 


Hollo's  interest  in  the  scenes  in  the  court. 


seat  at  the  table  all  the  time  while  eating  his 
breakfast ;  but  Rollo  was  continually  getting  up 
aiid  going  to  the  window  whenever  he  heard  the 
footsteps  of  any  one  coming  into  the  court  or  go 
ing  out,  or  the  sound  of  the  knocker  or  of  the 
bell  at  any  of  the  opposite  doors. 


80  HOLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Mr.  George's  plan.  Westminster  and  St.  Paul's.  Whitehall. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
WESTMINSTER    ABBEY. 

''  N"ow,  Hollo,"  said  Mr.  George,  after  they  had 
finished  breakfast,  "  the  great  church  of  the  city 
is  St.  Paul's,  and  that  of  the  West  End  is  West 
minster  Abbey.  I  have  an  idea  of  going  to 
church  this  morning  at  the  Abbey,  and  this  after 
noon  at  St.  Paul's." 

Rollo  was  well  pleased  with  this  arrangement ; 
and  soon  afterwards  he  and  his  uncle  sallied  forth, 
and  took  their  way  along  Whitehall. 

Whitehall  is  a  sort  of  continuation  of  the 
Strand,  leading,  as  it  does,  along  the  Thames,  at 
a  little  distance  from  the  bank  of  the  river.  It 
is  bordered  on  both  sides  by  magnificent  public 
edifices,  such  as  the  Horse  Guards,  the  Admiral 
ty,  Westminster  Hall,  the  Houses  of  Parliament, 
and  the  Treasury.  Conspicuous  among  these  and 
other  similar  edifices,  and  in  the  midst  of  paved 
courts  and  green  gardens,  stands  the  venerable 
group  of  buildings  famed  through  all  the  world 
as  Westminster  Abbey. 


WESTMINSTER    ABBEY.  81 

The  current  of  visitors.  "  To  the  Poet's  Corner."  Entrance. 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo,  when  they  approached 
the  abbey,  saw  a  current  of  people  moving 
towards  the  building.  These  people  turned  off 
from  the  sidewalk  to  a  paved  alley,  which  led 
along  a  sort  of  court.  This  court  was  bound 
ed  by  a  range  of  ordinary,  but  ancient-looking, 
houses  on  one  side,  and  a  very  remarkable  mass 
of  richly-carved  and  ornamented  Gothic  archi 
tecture,  which  evidently  pertained  to  the  abbey,  on 
the  other.  On  the  wall  of  the  row  of  houses  was 
a  sign,  on  which  were  inscribed  the  words,  "  To 
THE  POET'S  CORNER." 

"  This  must  be  the  way,"  said  Mr.  George  to 
Rollo. 

So  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  fell  into  the  current, 
and  walked  up  the  alley.  They  came,  at  length, 
to  a  low-arched  door  in  the  wall  of  a  building, 
which,  from  the  massive  stone  buttresses  that  sup 
ported  it,  and  the  rich  carvings  and  sculptures 
which  were  seen  about  the  doors  and  windows, 
and  the  antique  and  timeworn  appearance  which 
was  exhibited  in  every  feature  of  it,  was  evi 
dently  a  part  of  the  abbey. 

"  This  is  the  place,"  said  Mr.  George  to  Rollo, 
"  there  is  no  doubt." 

Mr.  George  entered  at  the  door,  followed  by 
Rollo,  and  they  were  ushered  at  once  into  a  scene 
of  the  most  extraordinary  and  impressive  charac- 
6 


82  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  vast  and  magnificent  scene  within  the  abbey. 

ter.  They  found  themselves  in  the  niidst  of  a 
splendid  panorama  of  columns,  statues,  monu 
ments,  galleries,  and  ranges  of  arches  and  colon 
nades,  which  seemed  to  extend  interminably  in 
every  direction,  and  to  rise  to  so  vast  a  height 
that  the  eye  seemed  to  be  lost  in  attempting  to 
reach  the  groins  and  arches  in  which  they  termi 
nated  above.  Here  and  there,  at  various  places 
more  or  less  remote,  were  to  be  seen  windows 
of  stained  glass,  through  which  beams  of  colored 
light  streamed  down  through  groups  of  columns, 
and  over  the  carved  and  sculptured  ornaments 
of  screens  and  stalls,  and  among  innumerable 
groups  and  figures  of  monumental  marble. 


N.  transept. 


N.  aisle. 


Nave.  Choir. 


S.  aisle. 


S.  transept. 


East 


The  place  where  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  entered 
the  church  was  in  the  south  transept,  as  it  is 
called  ;  that  is,  in  the  southern  arm  of  the  cross 
which  is  formed  by  the  ground  plan  of  the  church. 


WESTMINSTER    ABBEY.        ,85 

The  cathedral  form.         Nave.         Chancel.         Transepts.         Choir 

Almost  all  the  cathedral  churches  of  Europe  are 
built  in  the  general  form  of  a  cross,  the  length 
of  which  lies  always  to  the  east  and  west. 

The  main  body  of  the  church  is  called  the 
nave  ;  the  head  of  the  cross  is  the  chancel  ;  the 
two  arms  are  the  north  and  south  transepts  ;  and 
the  space  formed  by  the  intersection  of  the  cross 
is  called  the  choir.  It  is  in  the  choir,  usually, 
that  congregations  assemble  and  the  service  is 
performed,  the  whole  church  being  usually  too 
large  for  this  purpose.  The  space  necessary  for 
the  use  of  the  congregations  is  separated  from 
the  rest  of  the  floor  by  splendidly-carved  and  or 
namented  partitions,  which  rise  to  a  height  of 
twenty  or  thirty  feet  above  the  floor  —  the  whole 
height  of  the  church  being  often  more  than  one 
hundred.  These  partitions  are  called  screens. 
But  in  order  that  the  reader  may  understand  all 
this  more  perfectly,  and  also  obtain  a  more  full 
and  correct  idea  of  the  interior  of  the  abbey,  I 
give,  on  the  adjoining  page,  a  ground  plan  of  the 
edifice,  which  shows  very  distinctly  its  general 
form,  and  the  relative  position  of  the  various 
parts  of  it  above  referred  to.  Near  the  margin  of 
the  drawing,  on  the  right-hand  side  of  it,  is  seen  the 
passage  way  leading  to  the  Poet's  Corner,  where 
Mr.  George  and  Rollo  came  in.  On  the  side 
which  was  upon  their  right  hand  as  they  came  in 


86  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  Chajiwr  House.  Poets'  monuments.  Ranges  of  columns. 

you  see  the  ground  plan  of  the  great  buttresses 
which  stand  here  against  the  wall  of  the  church. 
On  their  left  hand  is  the  octagon-shaped  building, 
called  the  Chapter  House.  This  building  was  ori 
ginally  designed  for  the  meetings  of  the  body  of 
ecclesiastics  connected  with  the  cathedral.*  In  the 
corner  between  the  Chapter  House  and  the  church 
you  can  see  the  door  opening  into  the  church, 
where  Mr.  George  and  Hollo  came  in.  On  enter 
ing  they  found  themselves  at  A,  which  is  called 
the  Poet's  Corner,  from  the  fact  that  the  monu 
ments  of  Shakspeare,  Dryden,  Thomson,  Gold 
smith,  and  most  of  the  other  poets  that  are  in 
terred  or  commemorated  in  the  abbey,  are  placed 
here. 

The  part  A,  as  you  see  from  the  plan,  is  separated 
from  the  main  portion  of  the  south  transept  by  a 
range  of  columns.  These  columns  rise  to  a  vast 
height  in  reaching  the  ceiling  above.  Of  course 
only  the  places  where  the  columns  stand,  and  the 
forms  of  the  bases  of  them,  are  marked  on  the 
plan.  In  other  parts  of  the  floor  of  the  church, 
as,  for  example,  in  the  north  transept,  and  along 
each  side  of  the  nave  and  choir,  are  other  ranges 
of  columns,  some  square  at  the  base,  and  other8 
round.  You  will  observe,  too,  that  the  rows  of 

*  Such  a  body  of  ecclesiastics  is  called  a  chapter. 


WESTMINSTER    ABBEY.  87 

Meaning  of  aisle.  The  cathedral  roof.  The  congregation. 

columns  which  stand  on  each  side  of  the  nave 
and  choir  separate  the  central  part  of  the  church 
from  what  are  called  the  aisles  ;  for  the  word 
aisle,  as  applied  to  a  European  cathedral,  does 
not  denote,  as  in  America,  a  passage  way  between 
two  rows  of  seats,  or  pews,  but  the  spaces  outside 
of  the  ranges  of  columns,  which  extend  up  and 
down  the  body  of  the  church,  on  each  side  of  the 
nave  and  choir. 

The  aisles,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  plan,  are  not 
so  wide  as  the  nave  and  choir.  There  is  another 
thing  also  to  be  noted  respecting  them  that  is 
quite  important,  though  it  cannot  be  seen  in  the 
plan  —  and  that  is,  that  they  are  not  so  high,  the 
roof  being  carried  up  to  a  greater  height  in  the 
centre  of  the  church  —  that  is,  over  the  nave 
and  choir  —  than  it  is  at  the  sides  over  the  aisles. 
Thus  these  ranges  of  columns  not  only  divide 
different  portions  of  the  floor  from  each  other  be 
low,  but  they  also  separate  roofs  of  different  alti 
tudes  above. 

But  let  us  return  to  Mr.  George  and  Rollo, 
We  left  them  in  the  Poet's  Corner,  at  A.  As 
they  looked  through  the  columns  near  them,  they 
saw  the  congregation  filling  the  whole  central 
part  of  the  church. 

"Let  us  go  up  and  find  a  seat,"  said  Mr 
George. 


88  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  appearance  of  the  congregation  to  Mr.  George  and  Rollo. 

So  Mr.  George  led  the  way  between  the  col 
umns  into  the  south  transept.  You  can  see  ex 
actly  where  they  went  by  looking  at  the  plan. 
This  transept  was  filled  with  settees,  which  were 
placed  in  two  ranges,  with  a  passage  way  in  the 
middle  between  them.  The  front  settees  were 
filled  with  people,  and  over  the  heads  of  them 
Mr.  George  could  see  that  there  were  other 
ranges  of  settees  in  the  north  transept  and  the 
choir.  There  were  various  desks,  and  pulpits, 
and  oratories,  and  carved  stalls,  and  canopies  to 
be  seen  in  the  interior,  and  many  separate  com 
partments  of  seats,  some  enclosed  by  ancient 
carved  oak  railings,  and  others  with  large  worst 
ed  ropes,  of  a  dark-brown  color,  drawn  across 
the  entrance  to  them.  Above,  clusters  of  col 
umns  and  tall  pinnacles,  rising  from  canopies  and 
screens,  ascended  high  into  the  air  ;  and  between 
and  beyond  them  were  to  be  seen  gorgeous  win 
dows  of  colored  glass,  of  the  most  antique  and 
timeworn  appearance,  and  of  enormous  size.  Over 
the  heads,  too,  of  the  congregation  of  living  wor 
shippers,  and  mingled  with  them  in  various  recesses 
and  corners,  were  to  be  seen  numberless  groups 
and  statues  of  marble.  These  statues  were,  in 
fact,  so  mingled  with  the  worshippers,  that,  in 
surveying  the  assemblage,  it  seemed,  in  some 
cases,  difficult  for  a  moment  to  distinguish  the 


WESTMINSTER    ABBEY.  89 

The  music  in  the  cathedral.  Mr.  George  and  Hollo  take  seats. 

living  forms  of  the  real  men  from  cold  and  life 
less  effigies  of  the  dead. 

Hollo  and  Mr.  George  advanced  up  the  passage 
way  as  far  as  they  could  ;  and  then,  Mr.  George 
making  a  signal  for  Rollo  to  follow  him,  they  sat 
down  on  one  of  the  benches  where  there  was  a 
vacancy,  and  began  to  listen  to  the  music.  This 
music  came  from  an  immense  organ  which  was 
placed  over  the  screen  marked  S  on  the  plan, 
which,  as  you  see,  separates  the  nave  from  the 
choir.  The  tones  of  the  organ  were  very  deep 
and  loud,  and  the  sound  reverberated  from  the 
arches  and  columns,  and  from  the  vaulted  roofs 
above,  in  a  very  sublime  and  impressive  manner. 

"  Can't  we  go  up  a  little  nearer?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  We  cannot  get  seats  any  nearer,"  said  Mr. 
George. 

The  seats,  in  fact,  that  were  in  front  appeared 
to  be  entirely  full,  and  several  persons  were 
standing  in  the  passage  way.  Just  then  a  gentle 
man  and  lady  came  up  the  passage  way  to  the 
end  of  the  seat  where  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  were 
sitting.  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  moved  in  to  make 
room.  They  sat  down  in  the  space  which  was 
thus  made  for  them,  without,  however,  acknowl 
edging  Mr.  George's  politeness  even  by  a  look. 

"  Cannot  we  go  up  a  little  nearer  ?  "  said  the 
lady. 


90  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  lady  and  gentleman  in  search  of  seats.        Satisfaction  of  the  lady. 

"  We  cannot  get  seats  any  nearer,"  said  the  gen 
tleman.  "  The  seats  above  here  seem  to  be  all 
full." 

The  lady  did  not  appear,  however,  to  be  satis 
fied,  but  began  to  look  anxiously  about  among 
the  benches  nearer  to  the  choir  in  search  of  some 
vacant  seat.  The  choir  itself  appeared  to  be 
full,  and  the  entrance  to  it  was  closed  by  one  of 
the  worsted  ropes  above  referred  to,  and  was 
guarded,  moreover,  by  two  vergers,  dressed  in  an 
antique  and  picturesque  costume. 

"  Edward,"  said  the  lady  in  a  moment  to  the 
gentleman  by  her  side,  who  appeared  to  be  her 
husband,  "  I  see  a  place  where  I  can  get  a  seat." 

So  she  rose  and  walked  up  the  passage  way, 
followed  by  the  gentleman.  She  went  to  one  of 
the  forward  settees,  where  there  were  some  ladies 
sitting  who  were  not  very  close  together,  and 
asked  them  to  move  in,  so  as  to  make  room  for 
her.  She  then  crowded  into  the  space  which  was 
thus  made,  and  looked  up  to  her  husband  with 
an  expression  of  great  satisfaction  on  her  coun 
tenance. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr  George,  "  now  she  is  satisfied. 
A  woman  never  cares  how  long  her  husband  stands 
in  aisles  and  passages,  so  long  as  she  has  a  good 
seat  herself." 

Mr.  George  was  not  a  great  admirer  of  the 


WESTMINSTER    ABBEY.          91 

Mr.  George's  opinion  was  right  in  this  instance. 

ladies,  and  he  often  expressed  Ms  opinion  of  them 
in  a  very  ungallant  and  in  quite  too  summary  a 
manner.  What  he  Said  in  this  case  is  undoubted 
ly  true  of  some  ladies,  as  every  one  who  has  had 
occasion  to  witness  their  demeanor  in  public 
places  must  have  observed.  But  it  is  by  no  means 
true  of  all. 

In  this  particular  instance,  however,  it  must  be 
confessed  that  Mr.  George  was  in  the  right.  The 
gentleman  looked  round,  when  he  found  his  wife 
was  seated,  to  see  whether  the  place  he  had  left 
was  still  vacant ;  but  it  was  occupied  ;  and  so  he 
remained  standing  in  the  passage  way,  by  the  side 
of  his  wife,  during  all  the  service.  It  was  very 
plain,  however,  that  this  circumstance  gave  his 
wife  no  concern  whatever.  She  seemed  to  con 
sider  it  a  matter  of  course  that,  provided  the 
lady  in  such  cases  was  seated,  the  gentleman 
might  stand. 

In  the  mean  time,  Mr.  George  and  Hollo  re 
mained  in  the  seat  they  had  taken.  The  service 
appeared  to  them  very  complicated.  The  differ 
ent  portions  of  it  were  performed  by  different 
clergymen,  who  were  dressed  in  white  robes,  and 
adorned  with  the  various  other  insignia  of  sacerdo 
tal  rank.  The  places,  too,  in  which  they  stood,  in 
performing  their  ministrations,  were  continually 
changed,  each  clergyman  being  escorted  with 


92  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  clergymen  and  the  vergers.  A  spectacle.  After  service. 

great  ceremony  to  the  desk  or  pulpit  at  which  he 
was  to  perform  his  part  by  a  verger,  who  was 
clothed  in  an  antique  dress,  and  bore  an  orna 
mented  rod  in  his  hand  —  the  emblem  of  his 
office. 

In  one  place  there  was  a  choir  of  singing  boys, 
all  dressed  in  white,  who  chanted  the  responses 
and  anthems.  The  other  parts  of  the  service 
were  cantilated,  or  intoned,  as  it  is  called,  in  a 
manner  which  seemed  to  Mr.  George  and  Rollo 
very  extraordinary.  In  fact,  the  whole  scene  pro 
duced  upon  the  minds  of  our  travellers  the  effect, 
not  of  a  religious  service  for  the  worship  of  God, 
but  of  a  gorgeous,  though  solemn,  dramatic  spec 
tacle. 

When,  at  length,  the  service  was  ended  and 
the  benediction  was  pronounced,  the  congregation 
rose  j  but  Mr.  George  perceived  that  those  who 
were  in  the  part  of  the  church  near  them  did  not 
turn  and  go  back  towards  the  Poet's  Corner, 
where  they  had  come  in,  but  stood  and  looked 
forward  towards  the  choir,  as  if  they  were  ex 
pecting  to  advance  in  that  direction. 

"  Let  us  wait  a  minute/7  said  Mr.  George,  "  and 
see  what  they  will  do." 

In  a  few  minutes  the  verger  removed  the  worst 
ed  cords  by  which  the  passage  ways  in  and 
through  the  choirs  had  been  closed,  and  then 


WESTMINSTER    ABBEY.  93 

The  procession  of  the  congregation  out  from  the  choir. 

there  commenced  a  general  movement  of  the 
congregation  in  that  direction.  The  people,  as 
they  walked  along,  paused  to  look  at  the  monu 
ments  that  were  built  in  the  walls  ;  at  the  statues 
and  groups  of  allegorical  figures  that  were  placed 
here  and  there  in  niches  and  recesses  ;  at  the  oak 
carvings  in  the  screens  ;  the  canopies  and  the 
stalls  ;  at  the  stained-glass  windows,  with  the 
gorgeous  representations  which  they  contained  of 
apostles  and  saints  ;  and  at  all  the  other  architect 
ural  and  sculptured  wonders  of  the  place. 

The  congregation  passed  out  from  the  choir 
into  the  nave  through  a  sort  of  gateway  in  the 
screen  beneath  the  organ,  at  the  place  marked  0 
in  the  plan  ;  and  then,  spreading  out  on  each  side, 
they  passed  between  the  columns  into  the  aisles, 
and  thus  moved  slowly  down  the  nave  and  the 
aisles,  surveying  the  monuments  and  sculptures  as 
they  proceeded.  They  did  not  stop  long  at  any 
place,  but  moved  on  continually,  though  slowly, 
as  if  it  were  not  the  custom  to  walk  about  much 
for  the  purpose  of  viewing  the  abbey  on  Sunday. 

All  this  part  of  the  church  was  entirely  open, 
there  being  no  pews  or  seats,  nor  any  fixtures  of 
any  kind,  except  the  sepulchral  monuments  at  the 
sides.  The  floor  was  of  stone,  the  pavement  be 
ing  composed,  in  a  great  measure,  of  slabs  carved 
with  obituary  inscriptions,  some  of  which  were 


94  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  atmosphere.  Sculptures.  Contrasts. 

very  ancient,  while  others  were  quite  modern. 
The  whole  atmosphere  of  the  church  seemed  cold 
and  damp,  as  if  it  were  a  tomb. 

Hollo's  attention  was  strongly  attracted  by  the 
monuments  that  they  passed  by  in  their  walk. 
Many  of  the  sculptures  were  larger  than  life,  and 
they  were  represented  in  various  attitudes,  and 
with  various  accompanying  symbols,  according  to 
the  character  or  position  in  life  of  the  men  whose 
exploits  were  commemorated  by  them.  There 
were  effigies  of  modern  men,  studying  books,  or 
working  with  mathematical  instruments,  or  look 
ing  attentively  at  globes.  There  were  rude 
sculptures  of  crusaders,  lying  upon  their  backs  on 
slabs  of  stone,  their  faces  and  forms  blackened 
by  time,  their  noses  and  ears  broken  off,  and 
sometimes  with  an  arm  or  a  foot  wanting.  Then, 
as  a  contrast  to  these,  there  were  beautiful  repre 
sentations  of  ships  and  sea  fights,  all  exquisitely 
chiselled  in  the  whitest  of  marble.  There  were 
angels  and  cherubs  in  every  imaginable  form  and 
position,  and  countless  other  varieties  of  statues, 
bass  reliefs,  and  inscriptions,  which  excited  in  Rol- 
lo,  as  he  walked  among  them,  a  perpetual  senti- 
Dient  of  wonder. 

"  Cannot  we  walk  about  here  a  little  while," 
said  Rollo,  "  and  look  at  these  images  more  ?  " 

"  No/7  said  Mr.  George,  "  not  to-day.  It 
seems  not  to  be  the  usage." 


WESTMINSTER    ABBEY.  95 

Usage.  The  chapels  of  Westminster  Abbey.  Their  location. 

"  I  do  not  see  any  harm  in  it,"  said  Rollo.  "  It 
is  just  like  walking  in  a  burying  ground." 

u  True,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  but  it  seems  not  to 
be  the  usage.  We  will  come  some  other  day." 

Rollo  and  Mr.  George  did  come  another  day  , 
and  then  they  walked  about  entirely  at  their 
ease,  and  examined  as  many  of  the  monuments, 
and  deciphered  as  many  of  the  ancient  inscrip 
tions,  as  they  pleased.  They  also  walked  about 
to  visit  what  are  called  the  chapels.  The  chapels 
in  a  European  cathedral  are  small  recesses,  open 
ing  from  the  main  church,  and  separated  from 
it  by  an  iron  railing,  or  a  screen,  or  something 
of  that  sort.  They  are  ornamented  in  various 
ways,  and  contain  various  monuments,  and  in 
Catholic  cathedrals  are  used  often  for  special 
services  of  religious  worship.  You  will  see  the 
places  of  the  chapels  in  Westminster  Abbey  by 
referring  again  to  the  plan  on  page  82.  Most  of 
them  are  built  around  the  head  of  the  cross. 
There  are  six  small  ones,  —  three  on  each  side,  — 
marked  B,  C,  D,  F,  G,  I,  and  another  at  the  head 
—  the  largest  and  most  splendid  of  all.  This 
last  is  called  Henry  VII. 's  Chapel.  The  tombs 
of  Queen  Mary  and  Queen  Elizabeth  are  in  this 
chapel,  one  on  each  side  of  it,  as  marked  in  the  plan. 
The  names  of  the  other  chapels  are  as  follows  : 


96  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Names  of  the  chapels.   Sensations  of  the  visitors.   Aspect  of  the  abbey 

B,  St.  Benedict's  ;  C,  St.  Edinond's  ;  D,  St.  Niclio 
las's  ;  F,  St.  Paul's  ;  G,  St.  John  the  Baptist's. 

There  is  also  another  chapel  in  the  centre, 
which  is,  in  some  respects,  the  most  interesting  of 
all.  It  is  marked  H  on  the  plan.  Here  the 
bodies  of  a  great  number  of  the  ancient  kings  of 
England  are  interred. 

As  Rollo  and  Mr.  George  walked  about  among 
these  monuments  and  tombstones,  now  that  there 
was  no  congregation  of  worshippers  present  to 
give  a  living  character  to  the  scene,  the  whole 
aspect  and  feeling  of  the  chapels  and  aisles 
through  which  they  wandered  seemed  cold,  and 
damp,  and  subterranean,  so  as  to  impress  them 
continually  with  the  idea  that  they  were  in  cham 
bers  consecrated,  not  to  the  living,  but  to  the 
dead.  In  fact,  Westminster  Abbey,  whatever 
may  have  been  its  original  design,  is  now  little 
else  than  a  tomb  —  a  grand  and  imposing,  but 
damp  and  gloomy,  tomb.  It  is  so  completely 
filled  in  every  part  with  funeral  monuments  that 
the  whole  aspect  and  character  of  it  are  entirely 
changed  ;  so  that,  from  being  a  temple  consecrated 
to  the  service  of  God,  it  has  become  a  vast  sep 
ulchre,  devoted  almost  wholly  to  commemorating 
the  glory  of  man. 

Mr.  George  did  not  go  to  St.  Paul's  that  after- 


WESTMINSTER    ABBEY.          97 

Worship  in  the  dissenting  chapel  near  Northumberland  Court. 

noon  to  church,  as  he  had  at  first  intended.  He 
said  that  one  such  display  as  he  had  witnessed  at 
Westminster  Abbey  was  spectacle  enough  for  one 
Sunday.  He  accordingly  determined  to  postpone 
his  visit  to  the  great  cathedral  of  the  city  till  the 
next  day  ;  and  on  that  afternoon  he  took  Rollo  to 
a  small  dissenting  chapel  in  the  vicinity  of  their 
lodgings,  where  the  service  consisted  of  simple 
prayers  offered  by  the  pastor  as  the  organ  of  the 
assembled  worshippers,  of  hymns  sung  in  concert 
by  all  the  congregation,  and  of  a  plain  and  prac 
tical  sermon,  urging  upon  the  hearers  the  duty  of 
penitence  for  sin,  and  of  seeking  pardon  and  sal 
vation  through  a  spiritual  union  with  Jesus  the 
Redeemer. 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  George  to  Rollo,  as  he 
came  out  of  the  chapel  when  the  congregation 
was  dismissed,  "  the  service  at  the  abbey,  with  all 
those  chantings  and  intonations  of  the  perform 
ers,  and  all  the  ceremonies,  and  dresses,  and  sol 
emn  paradings,  makes  a  more  imposing  spectacle, 
I  grant ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  the  service  that 
we  have  heard  this  afternoon  is  modelled  much 
more  closely  after  the  pattern  of  the  meeting 
which  Jesus  held  with  his  disciples  the  night  be 
fore  he  was  betrayed.  At  any  rate,  it  satisfies 
much  more  fully,  as  it  seems  to  me,  the  spiritual 
hungerings  and  thirstings  of  the  human  soul." 
7 


98  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Monday  morning.        How  shall  we  go  into  the  city  ?         Temple  Bar. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 
CALCULATIONS. 

"  Now,  Hollo,"  said  Mr.  George,  after  break 
fast  Monday  morning,  "  we  will  go  into  the  citv 
and  see  St.  Paul's  this  morning.  I  suppose  it  ip 
nearly  two  miles  from  here,"  he  continued.  "  We 
can  go  down  in  one  of  the  steamers  on  the  river 
for  sixpence,  or  we  can  go  in  an  omnibus  for 
eightpence,  or  in  a  cab  for  a  shilling.  Which 
do  you  vote  for  ?  " 

"  I  vote  for  going  on  the  river,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Now  I  think  of  it,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  I  must 
stop  on  the  way,  just  below  Temple  Bar  ;  so  we 
shall  have  to  take  a  cab." 

Temple  Bar  is  an  old  gateway  which  stands  at 
the  entrance  of  the  city.  It  was  originally  a  part 
of  the  wall  that  surrounded  the  city.  The  rest 
of  the  wall  has  long  since  been  removed  ;  but  this 
gateway  was  left  standing,  as  an  ancient  and  ven 
erable  relic.  The  principal  street  leading  from 
the  West  End  to  the  city  passes  through  it  under 
an  archway ;  and  the  sidewalks,  through  smaller 


CALCULATIONS.  99 

Reverence  for  the  remains  of  antiquity.  The  woman  with  violets. 

arches,  are  at  the  sides.  The  great  gates  are  still 
there,  and  are  sometimes  shut.  The  whole  build 
ing  is  very  much  in  the  way,  and  it  will  proba 
bly,  before  long,  be  pulled  down.  In  America  it 
would  be  down  in  a  week  ;  but  in  England  there 
is  so  much  reverence  felt  for  such  remains  of  an 
tiquity  that  the  inconvenience  winch  they  pro 
duce  must  become  very  great  before  they  can  be 
removed. 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo  took  a  cab  and  rode 
towards  the  city.  Just  after  passing  Temple 
Bar,  Mr.  George  got  out  of  the  cab  and  went  into 
an  office.  Rollo  got  out  too,  and  amused  himself 
walking  up  and  down  the  sidewalk,  looking  in  at 
the  shop  windows,  while  Mr.  George  was  doing 
his  business. 

When  Mr.  George  came  out  Rollo  had  got  into 
the  cab  again,  and  was  just  at  that  moment  giv 
ing  a  woman  a  penny,  who  stood  at  the  window 
of  the  cab  on  the  street  side.  The  woman  had  a 
child  in  her  arms. 

"When  Rollo  first  saw  the  woman,  she  came  up 
to  the  window  of  the  cab  —  where  he  had  taken 
his  seat  after  he  had  looked  at  the  shop  windows 
as  much  as  he  pleased  —  and  held  up  a  bunch  of 
violets  towards  him,  as  if  she  wished  him  to  buy 
them.  Rollo  shook  his  head.  The  woman  did 
not  offer  the  violets  again,  but  looked  down 


100  HOLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Hollo's  gift.  Sympathy.  The  gold  watch  chain. 

towards  her  babe  with  an  expression  of  great 
sadness  in  her  face,  and  then  looked  imploringly 
again  towards  Rollo,  without,  however,  speaking 
a  word. 

Rollo  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket  and  took  out 
a  penny  and  gave  it  to  her.  The  woman  said 
"  Thank  you,"  in  a  faint  tone  of  voice,  and  went; 
away. 

It  was  just  at  this  moment  that  Mr.  George 
came  out  to  the  cab. 

"  Rollo,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  did  not  you  know 
it  was  wrong  to  give  money  to  beggars  in  the 
streets  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  but  this  time  I  could 
not  resist  the  temptation,  she  looked  so  piteously 
at  her  poor  little  baby." 

Mr.  George  said  no  more,  but  took  his  seat,  and 
the  cab  drove  on. 

"  Uncle  George,"  said  Rollo,  after  a  little 
pause,  "  I  saw  some  very  pretty  gold  chains  in 
a  window  near  here  j  there  was  one  just  long 
enough  for  my  watch.  Do  you  think  I  had  better 
buy  it  ?  " 

"What  was  the  price  of  it?"  asked  Mr. 
George. 

"  It  was  marked  one  pound  fifteen  shillings," 
paid  Rollo  ;  "  that  is  about  eight  dollars  and  a 
half." 


CALCULATIONS.  101 

Calculations.          The  due  bill.  Mr.  George's  system  of  accounts. 

"  It  must  be  a  very  small  chain,"  said  Mr. 
George. 

11  It  was  small,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  just  right  for  my 
watch  and  me." 

"  Well,  I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  George,  in  a 
hesitating  tone,  as  if  he  were  considering  whether 
the  purchase  would  be  wise  or  not.  "  You  have 
got  money  enough." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  besides  my  credit  on 
your  book,  I  have  got  in  my  pocket  two  sover 
eigns  and  two  pennies,  and,  besides  that,  your 
due  bill  for  four  shillings." 

<;  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  I  must  pay  that 
die  bill." 

What  Rollo  meant  by  a  due  bill  was  this  :  Mr. 
George  was  accustomed  to  keep  his  general  ac 
count  with  Rollo  in  a  book  which  he  carried 
with  him  for  this  purpose,  and  from  time  to  -time 
he  would  pay  Rollo  such  sums  as  he  required 
in  sovereigns,  charging  the  amount  in  the  book. 
It  often  happened,  however,  in  the  course  of  their 
travels,  that  Mr.  George  would  have  occasion  to 
borrow  some  of  this  money  of  Rollo  for  the  pur 
pose  of  making  change,  or  Rollo  would  borrow 
small  sums  of  Mr.  George.  In  such  cases  the 
borrower  would  give  to  the  lender  what  he  called 
a  due  bill,  which  was  simply  a  small  piece  of  pa 
per  with  the  sum  of  money  borrowed  written  upon 


10-2  -g,  O'L'L-G     IM     L  0  N  D  0  N  . 

The  form  of  Mr.  George's  due  bill.  Business  habits. 

it,  and  the  name  of  the  borrower,  or  his  initials, 
underneath.  When  Mr.  George  gave  Rollo  such 
a  due  bill  for  change  which  he  had  borrowed  of 
him,  Rollo  would  keep  the  due  bill  in  his  purse 
with  his  money  until  Mr.  George,  having  received 
a  supply  of  change,  found  it  convenient  to  pay  it. 
The  due  bill  which  Rollo  referred  to  in  the 
above  conversation  was  as  follows  :  — 


Four  shillings. 
G.  H. 


Mr.  George  adopted  the  plan  of  giving  or  re 
ceiving  a  due  bill  in  all  cases  where  he  borrowed 
money  of  Rollo  or  lent  money  to  him,  in  order 
to  accustom  Rollo  to  transact  all  his  business  in  a 
regular  and  methodical  manner,  and  to  avoid  the 
possibility  of  any  mistake  or  any  difference  of  opin 
ion  between  them  in  respect  to  the  question  whether 
the  money  was  actually  borrowed,  or  whether  it 
had  not  been  repaid.  I  strongly  recommend  to  all 
the  readers  of  this  book  to  adopt  some  such  plan 
as  this  in  all  their  pecuniary  transactions  with 
others,  whether  they  are  great  or  small,  and  to 
adhere  to  it  very  rigidly.  This  rule  is  especially 
important  when  the  parties  having  pecuniary 
transactions  with  each  other  are  friends  j  and  the 


CALCULATIONS.  103 

Asking  and  offering.  Hollo's  plan.  Purchases. 

more  intimate  their  friendship  is,  the  more  impor 
tant  is  this  rule. 

It  is  true,  it  would  not  be  polite  and  proper  for 
you  to  ask  for  such  a  memorandum  of  a  friend  to 
whom  you  casually  lend  some  small  sum,  but  you 
can  always  offer  it  when  you  borrow  ;  and  in 
all  cases,  where  you  have  frequent  dealings  of  this 
kind  with  any  person,  you  can  agree  upon  this 
plan  beforehand,  as  a  general  rule. 

But  let  us  return  to  Hollo  and  the  watch  chain. 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  George,  after  some  hesita 
tion,  "  I  am  by  no  means  sure  that  it  would  not 
be  a  good  plan  for  you  to  buy  the  watch  chain. 
A  gold  chain  is  an  article  of  permanent  and  in 
trinsic  value.  It  will  last  a  very  long  time. 
Perhaps  you  would  get  as  much  enjoyment  from 
it  as  from  any  thing  you  could  buy  with  that 
money.  At  any  rate,  the  money  is  your  own ; 
you  have  saved  it  from  your  travelling  expenses 
by  your  prudence  and  economy  ;  and  it  is  right 
for  you  to  expend  it  as  you  take  a  fancy.  If  you 
take  a  fancy  to  the  chain,  I  do  not  know  why  it 
would  not  be  a  good  purchase." 

"  I  think  I  should  like  the  chain  very  much," 
said  Rollo. 

"  Let  us  see,"  said  Mr.  George,  in  a  musing  sort 
of  tone  ;  "  there  is  another  way  to  look  at  these 
questions.  What  is  the  interest  of  eight  dollars 
and  a  half?" 


104  EOLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Mr.  George  calculates  the  cost  of  wearing  a  gold  chain. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Rollo.  "How  much 
is  it  ?  " 

"  Let  me  sec,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  seven  times 
six  are  forty -two  —  say  fifty  ;  and  then  we  must 
add  something  for  wear,  and  tear,  and  deprecia 
tion.  I  should  think,"  he  added,  after  a  moment's 
reflection,  "  that  the  chain  would  cost  you  about 
sixty  cents  a  year,  as  long  as  you  keep  it." 

"  How  so  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  Why,  the  money  that  you  will  pay  for  it  will 
produce  about  fifty  cents  a  year,  if  you  keep  it 
at  interest ;  and  of  course,  if  you  buy  a  chain  with 
the  money,  you  stop  all  that  income." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  understand  that  for  the 
fifty  cents  :  and  now  for  the  other  ten.  You  said 
sixty  cents." 

"  Why,  the  chain  will  be  gradually  wearing 
out  all  the  time,  while  you  use  it,"  said  Mr. 
George,  "  and  I  estimated  that  it  would  lose  about 
ten  cents  a  year.  That  makes  up  the  sixty." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  suppose  it  would!" 

"  You  see,"  continued  Mr.  George, "  that  the  lit 
tle  links  and  rings,  where  the  chief  wear  comes, 
will  gradually  become  thinner  and  thinner,  and 
at  last  the  time  would  come  when  you  could  not 
use  it  for  a  chain  any  longer.  You  would  then 
have  to  sell  it  for  old  gold  ;  and  for  that  pur 
pose  it  would  not  be  worth,  probably,  more  than 
half  what  you  now  give  for  it. 


CALCULATIONS.  105 

Interest.  Wear  and  tear.  The  wisdom  of  purchases. 

"So  you  see,"  continued  Mr.  George,  "you 
would  lose  the  interest  on  the  money  you  pay  for 
the  chain  every  year  ;  and  besides  that,  you  would 
lose  a  portion  of  the  -chain  itself.  When  you 
have  money  safely  invested  at  interest,  you  have 
the  interest  every  year,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
term  you  have  your  capital  restored  to  you  en 
tire.  But  in  such  a  purchase  as  this,  you  are 
sure,  in  the  end,  to  sink  a  portion  of  it  by  wear, 
and  tear,  and  depreciation  j  and  this  circum 
stance  ought  always  to  be  taken  into  account." 
"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  that  is  very  true." 
"  Making  such  a  calculation  as  this,"  continued 
Mr.  George,  "  will  often  help  us  determine  wheth 
er  it  is  wise  or  not  to  make  a  purchase.  The 
question  is,  whether  you  would  get  as  much  pleas 
ure  from  the  possession  and  use  of  this  chain  as 
sixty  cents  a  year  would  come  to." 

"  Yes,"  said  Eollo  ;  "  I  think  I  should." 
"  That  would  be  five  cents  a  month,"  said  Mr. 
George. 

"  Yes,"  repeated  Rollo  ;  "  I  think  i  should." 
"  And  one  cent  and  a  quarter  a  week,"  added 
Mr.    George.     "  Do   you   think  you  would   get 
pleasure  enough  out  of  your  chain  to  come  to  a 
cent  and  a  quarter  a  week  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  confidently  ;  "  I  am  sure  I 
should." 


106  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 


Rollo's  conclusion. 


"  I  think  it  very  likely  you  would,"  said  Mr. 
George  •  "  and  if  so,  it  would  be  a  wise  purchase." 

It  was  not  necessary  absolutely  that  Rollo 
should  obtain  his  uncle  George's  approval  of  any 
plan  which  he  might  form  for  the  expenditure  of 
his  surplus  funds,  since  it  was  Mr.  Holiday's  plan 
that  Rollo  should  spend  his  money  as  he  chose, 
provided  only  that  he  did  not  buy  any  thing  that 
would  either  be  injurious  or  dangerous  to  himself, 
or  a  source  of  annoyance  to  others.  Now,  in 
respect  to  the  chain,  Rollo  knew  very  well  him 
self  that  it  was  not  liable  to  either  of  these  ob 
jections,  and  that  he  was  consequently  at  liberty 
to  purchase  it  if  he  thought  best.  In  the  conver 
sation,  therefore,  described  above,  his  object  was 
not  so  much  to  obtain  his  uncle's  consent  that  he 
should  make  the  purchase  as  to  avail  himself  of 
his  uncle's  opinion  and  judgment  in  the  case,  in 
order  to  enable  him  to  judge  wisely  himself. 

"  I  think"  said  he,  at  length,  in  announcing  to 
his  uncle  his  decision,  "  that  it  will  be  a  good 
plan  for  me  to  buy  the  chain  ;  but  I  will  not  be  in 
haste  about  it.  I  will  wait  a  day  or  two.  I 
may  possibly  see  something  else  that  I  shall  like 
better." 


ST.  PAUL'S.  107 


An  unexpected  pleasure.    Hollo's  father  and  mother.    Travelling  plans. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

ST.    PAUL'S. 

MR.  GEORGE  and  Hollo,  just  before  they  reached 
St.  Paul's,  had  a  very  unexpected  addition  made 
to  their  party.  The  person  was  no  other  than 
Hollo's  mother. 

Rollo's  father  and  mother  had  come  from  Paris 
to  London  the  day  before,  though  Hollo  had  not 
expected  them  so  soon  as  this.  It  might  have 
been  supposed  that  in  making  the  tour  they  would 
keep  in  company  with  Mr.  George  and  Hollo  all 
the  time  ;  but  this  was  not  the  plan  which  they 
adopted.  Mr.  Holiday's  health  was  still  quite 
feeble,  and  he  wished  to  travel  in  a  very  quiet 
and  easy  manner.  Mr.  George  and  Hollo,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  full  of  life  and  spirits.  They 
wished  to  go  every  where,  and  to  see  every  thing, 
and  had  very  little  fear  of  either  fatigue  or  ex 
posure. 

"  It  will  be  better,  therefore,"  said  Mr.  Holi 
day,  "  that  we  should  act  independently  of  each 
other.  Yoi  may  go  your  way,  and  we  will  go 


108  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

A  coincidence.        St.  Paul's  Churchyard.        The  Bow  and  the  String. 

ours.  We  shall  meet  occasionally,  and  then  you 
can  relate  us  your  adventures." 

In  accordance  with  this  plan,  Hollo's  father  and 
mother  remained  in  Paris  a  few  days  after  Mr. 
George  and  Rollo  had  left  that  city  ;  and  now  they 
had  just  arrived  in  London.  Jane  came  with 
them.  And  now  it  happened,  by  a  very  remarka 
ble  coincidence,  that  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  met 
them  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard  when  they  were 
going  to  visit  the  cathedral. 

St.  Paul's  Churchyard  is  a  street.  It  surrounds 
the  yard  in  which  St.  Paul's  stands,  and  is  bor 
dered  on  the  outer  side  by  ranges  of  magnificent 
shops  and  houses.  Thus  the  street  has  buildings 
on  one  side,  and  the  monstrous  iron  palisade 
which  forms  the  enclosure  of  St.  Paul's  on  the 
other,  all  around  it. 

The  yard  in  which  St.  Paul's  stands  is  in  gen 
eral  of  an  oval  form,  though  not  regularly  so. 
One  side  curves  a  great  deal,  while  the  other  side 
is  nearly  straight.  The  street,  of  course,  corre 
sponds  with  the  outline  of  the  yard,  being  nearly 
straight  on  one  side  of  the  church,  and  quite  of  a 
crescent  form  on  the  other  —  being  shaped  thua 
somewhat  like  a  bow.  They  call  the  curved  side 
of  the  street  the  Bow,  and  the  straight  side  the 
String.  The  Bow  is  on  the  south  side  of  the 
church,  and  the  String  is  on  the  north  side. 


ST.    PAUL'S.  109 

Vanities  in  a  churchyard.  London  peculiarities.  A  meeting. 

Some  of  the  most  splendid  shops  in  London  are 
situated  in  this  street,  particularly  in  the  part  of 
it  called  the  String.  There  are  shops  for  the  sale 
of  books  and  engravings,  of  millinery  of  all  kinds, 
of  laces  and  embroideries  of  every  sort,  of  caps 
and  bonnets,  and  of  silver  plate  and  jewelry.  It 
seems  a  little  strange  to  the  visitor  to  see  so 
great  a  display  of  such  vanities  as  these  in  a 
street  called  a  Churchyard  ;  but  there  are  a  great 
many  such  apparent  inconsistencies  between  the 
names  and  uses  of  the  streets  in  London. 

It  was  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard  that  Rollo  met 
his  mother.  The  cab  which  he  and  his  uncle  were 
in  had  stopped  opposite  the  great  gate  which  led 
to  the  church.  Rollo  stepped  out  first ;  and  while 
he  was  waiting  for  his  uncle  George,  he  saw  his 
mother  just  coming  out  of  one  of  the  shops  on 
the  other  side. 

"  Why,  uncle  George !  "  said  he  ;  "  there's 
mother !  " 

So  saying,  he  ran  across  the  street  to  meet  his 
mother. 

Mrs.  Holiday  was  overjoyed  to  see  Rollo  com 
ing  ;  so  was  Jennie,  who  was  sitting  all  the  time 
in  the  carriage  with  Mr.  Holiday.  After  some 
conversation  on  other  subjects,  Rollo  told  his 
mother  that  he  and  Mr.  George  were  going  to 
gee  St.  Paul's. 


110  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Mrs.  Holiday  concludes  to  visit  Ihe  cathedral  with  Hollo. 

"  /  might  go  too,"  said  his  mother. 

"Yes,  mother!"  said  Hollo,  eagerly.  "Do, 
mother ! " 

"  I  would  go,"  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "  It  will  be  a 
very  good  opportunity  for  you  —  the  best  you  will 
have,  in  fact ;  for  I  shall  not  be  able  to  go  up  so 
many  stairs  myself.  Jennie  can  go  home  with  me." 

Jennie  did  not  like  this  part  of  the  proposal, 
but  seemed  very  desirous  to  go  with  her  mother. 

"  Why,  Jennie !  "  said  her  mother.  "  I  do  not 
think  you  could  climb  so  high.  I  don't  think  you 
know  how  high  it  is." 

"  Ah,  yes,  mother,"  said  Hollo,  "  she  can  climb 
very  well ;  besides,  I  can  help  her  if  she  gets 
tired." 

It  was  finally  agreed  that  Jennie  should  go  too  ; 
and  so  the  whole  party,  excepting  Mr.  Holiday, 
walked  across  the  street  and  began  to  ascend  the 
great  flight  of  circular  steps  which  led  to  the 
door  in  the  north  transept  of  the  church,  that  be 
ing  the  door  at  which  strangers  and  visitors  are 
usually  admitted. 

On  entering  the  church,  they  found  themselves 
ushered  into  an  interior  so  vast  in  extent,  and  so 
lofty  in  height,  as  to  overwhelm  them  with  won 
der.  They  walked  along  over  the  smooth  stone 
pavement  towards  the  centre  of  the  cross,  and 
there  stood  ani  looked  up  into  the  dome,  which 


ST.    PAUL'S.  Ill 

The  dome.  Paintings.  The  gallery. 

swelled  in  a  vast  concave  far  up  over  their  heads, 
like  a  sky  of  stone.  The  ceiling  of  the  dome 
was  divided  into  compartments,  which  were  cov 
ered  with  paintings.  These  paintings  had  become 
a  good  deal  faded  and  decayed  ;  and  on  one  side 
of  the  dome,  nearly  two  hundred  feet  above  where 
the  party  was  standing,  there  was  a  platform 
hanging  in  the  air,  with  workmen  and  artists 
upon  it  repainting  the  figures.  From  the  place 
where  he  now  stood,  however,  Rollo  could  only 
see  the  under  side  of  this  platform  and  some  of 
the  ropes  by  which  it  was  suspended. 

"  Do  you  see  that  gallery,"  said  Mr.  George  to 
Rollo,  pointing  upwards,  "  which  runs  all  around 
just  under  the  dome  ?  " 

"I  see  a  small  railing,  or  balustrade,"  said 
Mrs.  Holiday. 

"  There  is  a  gallery  there,"  said  Mr.  George, 
"  eight  or  ten  feet  wide,  though  we  do  not  see  the 
width  of  it  very  distinctly  here.  And  the  rail 
ing,  or  balustrade,  which  looks  so  small  here,  we 
shall  find  is  not  very  small  when  we  come  to  get 
up  to  it." 

"  Can  we  get  up  there  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Mr.  George.  "  That  must  be 
the  celebrated  whispering  gallery." 

"  How  do  you  know  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  I  have  read  descriptions  of  it  in  books/-'  said 


112  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  magnitude  of  the  church.  The  staircase.  Attendants. 

Mr.  George.  "  They  said  that  the  whispering 
gallery  was  a  gallery  passing  entirely  around  the 
centre  of  the  church,  over  the  choir,  and  just  un 
der  the  dome  ;  and  so  that  must  be  it.  All  that 
Is  the  dome  that  rises  above  it." 

"  Let  us  go  up  there,  then,"  said  Hollo. 

The  party  walked  about  the  floor  of  the  church 
«,  few  minutes  longer,  thougli  they  found  but  little 
to  interest  them  in  what  they  saw  except  the 
rastness  of  the  enclosed  interior  and  the  loftiness 
of  the  columns  and  walls.  There  were  several 
colossal  monuments  standing  here  and  there  ;  but 
in  general  the  church  had  a  somewhat  empty  and 
naked  appearance.  The  immense  magnitude, 
however,  of  the  spaces  which  the  party  traversed, 
and  the  lofty  heights  of  the  columns,  and  arches, 
and  ceilings  which  they  looked  up  to  above,  filled 
them  with  wonder. 

At  length,  near  the  foot  of  a  staircase,  in  a  sort 
of  corner,  they  found  a  man  in  a  little  office, 
whose  business  it  was  to  sell  to  visitors  tickets 
of  admission,  to  enable  them  to  view  such  parts 
of  the  church,  especially  those  situated  in  the  up 
per  regions  of  it,  as  it  would  not  be  proper  to 
leave  entirely  open  to  the  public.  For  these 
places  attendants  are  required,  to  guard  the  prem 
ises  from  injury,  as  well  as  to  show  the  visitors 
the  way  they  are  to  go  and  to  explain  to  tlioin 


ST.    PAUL'S.  113 


Charges  for  admission  in  St.  Paul's. 


what  they  see  ;  and  for  this  a  fee  is  charged,  ac 
cording  to  a  certain  tariff,  which  is  set  down  in 
the  guide  books  thus  :  — 

COST   OF   ADMISSION. 

s.d. 
Whispering,  Stone,  and  Golden  Galleries,        .        .        .06 

Ball, 16 

Library,  Great  Bell,  Geometrical  Staircase,  and  Model 

Room, 06 

Clock,     .        .        . 02 

Crypt  and  Nelson's  Monument, 06 

T~2 

Mr.  George  knew  in  general  that  this  was  the 
arrangement  for  showing  the  church  to  visitors  ; 
but  he  had  not  examined  the  tariff  particularly 
to  know  what  the  prices  were  which  were  charged 
for  the  several  parts  of  the  show.  He  did  not 
care  particularly  about  this,  however,  for  he 
meant  to  see  all. 

Accordingly,  when  the  party  came  up  to  the 
little  office  where  the  man  sold  the  tickets,  and 
the  man  asked  them  how  much  they  wished  to 
see,  Mr.  George  turned  to  Mrs.  Holiday,  saying,  — 

"  We  wish  to  see  all,  I  suppose,  do  we  not  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday;  "let  us  see  all 
there  is  to  be  seen." 

"  Then  it  will  be  nine  shillings  and  sixpence," 
said  the  ticket  man  ;  "  three  shillings  and  two 
pence  each  for  the  three.  I  shall  not  charge  for 
8 


114  HOLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Who  should  pay.       The  easiest  way  to  keep  accounts.       The  tickets. 

the  young  lady.  I  presume,  moreover/'  he  added, 
with  a  smile,  "  that  she  will  not  wish  to  go  up 
into  the  ball." 

So  Mr.  George  took  out  his  purse,  and  Mrs. 
Holiday  took  out  hers  at  the  same  time. 

"  I  will  pay,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"  We  will  all  pay/7  said  Mrs.  Holiday.  "  The 
easiest  way  to  keep  our  accounts  is  for  each  to 
pay  as  we  go." 

So  Mrs.  Holiday,  Mr.  George,  and  Rollo  paid 
each  three  shillings  and  twopence,  and  the  man 
gave  them  a  variety  of  tickets  in  return. 

"  Those"  said  he,  "  are  for  the  gallery,"  point 
ing  out  the  tickets  at  the  same  time  as  he  presented 
them  ;  "  and  those  are  for  the  ball.  These  are 
fjr  the  crypt.  You  keep  these  till  you  get  down 
stairs." 

Kollo  wondered  what  the  crypt  could  be  ;  but, 
as  he  considered  the  whole  party  as  now  under 
Mr.  George's  guidance,  he  thought  he  would  not 
inquire,  but  wait  until  he  should  see. 

There  are  several  different  staircases  in  St. 
Paul's  by  which  one  can  ascend  to  the  upper  por 
tions  of  the  edifice.  Our  party  began  immediate 
ly  to  mount  by  one  which  commenced  very  near 
to  the  place  where  they  had  bought  their  tickets. 
The  stairs  were  circular,  being  built  in  a  sort  of 
round  tower  which  stood  in  the  angle  of  the  cross. 


ST.    PAUL'S.  115 

Rollo  and  Jennie,  ascending  the  staircase,  meet  parties  coining  down. 

Rollo  took  Jane  by  the  hand  and  went  be 
fore,  while  Mr.  George  and  Mrs.  Holiday  fol 
lowed. 

"  Round  and  round,  round  and  round,  higher 
and  higher  above  the  ground,"  said  Rollo  to 
Jennie. 

"  Go  slowly,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  or  else  you 
will  get  very  tired  before  you  get  to  the  top." 

"  The  stairs  are  very  easy,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  they  are  very  easy 
indeed." 

The  stairs  were,  indeed,  very  easy  —  the  steps 
being  very  broad,  and  the  "  rise,"  as  it  is  called, 
of  each  one  being  very  small.  Rollo  and  Jennie 
went  on  very  gayly ;  and,  as  they  kept  about 
half  a  turn,  of  the  staircase  in  advance,  they 
were  generally  just  out  of  sight  of  Mr.  George 
and  Mrs.  Holiday,  who  followed  somewhat  more 
slowly  behind.  Jennie  would  have  been  afraid 
to  have  gone  thus  out  of  sight  of  her  mother  and 
uncle  were  it  not  that  she  could  hear  their  voices 
all  the  time  close  at  hand,  and  their  footsteps, 
also,  on  the  stairs. 

From  time  to  time,  as  our  party  ascended,  they 
met  other  parties  coming  down.  When  there  wero 
children  in  these  descending  parties,  they  tripped 
along  very  lightly  in  coming  down  •  but  Rollo  and 
Jennie  soon  found  themselves  growing  quite  tired. 


116  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Hollo's  reason  for  proposing  to  climb  fast  instead  of  slowly. 

So  they  stopped  to  rest.  After  stopping  a  mo 
ment,  Hollo's  mind  seemed  to  swing,  like  a  pen 
dulum,  to  the  opposite  extreme. 

"  Let  us  run,  Jennie,"  said  he,  "  and  then  we 
shall  get  up  quicker." 

"  No,  it  will  tire  us  more  to  run,"  replied 
Jennie. 

"  But  then  we  shall  get  up  all  the  quicker," 
said  Rollo,  "  and  so  it  will  not  make  any  differ 
ence.  We  may  as  well  work  hard  and  have  it 
over  quick  as  to  work  not  so  hard  and  have  it 
last  a  great  while." 

"  Well,"  said  Jennie,  "  then  let  us  run." 

This  reasoning  of  Hollo's  was  very  specious  and 
plausible,  but  it  was  very  erroneous  notwithstand 
ing  ;  for  it  is  found  by  experience  that  the  whole 
amount  of  fatigue  which  results  from  doing  any 
given  piece  of  work  is  by  no  means  the  same 
when  it  is  done  quickly  as  when  it  is  done  slowly. 
A  horse,  for  example,  if  you  allow  him  to  jog 
along  slowly,  at  the  rate  of  three  or  four  miles 
an  hour,  can  travel  forty  miles  a  day,  for  months 
at  a  time,  without  growing  thin  •  but  if  you  drive 
him  at  the  rate  of  eight  miles  an  hour,  he  can 
not  stand  more  than  ten  miles  a  day  for  any  long 
period.  That  is,  he  can  do  four  times  as  much  in 
amount,  with  the  same  degree  of  fatigue,  if  you 
allow  him  to  do  it  slowly. 


ST.    PAUL'S.  117 

The  steam  engine.  The  pedestrian.  The  horse. 

It  is  curious  that  the  case  is  precisely  the  same 
with  a  steam  engine.  A  steamer  can  cross  the 
Atlantic  with  a  very  much  smaller  supply  of  coal, 
if  she  goes  slowly,  than  if  she  goes  fast.  One 
might  imagine  that  it  would  take  just  twice  as 
much  coal  to  go  ten  miles  an  hour  as  would  be 
required  to  go  five  ;  but  in  reality  it  takes  more 
than  four  times  as  much  —  the  higher  rate  of 
speed  requiring  a  very  disproportionate  expendi 
ture  of  power. 

If,  therefore,  you  have  a  long  way  to  walk,  or 
a  high  ascent  to  climb,  and  are  afraid  that 
your  strength  may  not  hold  out  ;  — 

Or  if  you  have  a  horse  to  drive  a  long  journey , 
and  are  afraid  that  he  will  tire  out  before  he  gets 
to  the  end  of  it  ;  — 

Or  if  you  have  a  steamer  to  propel,  and  are 
not  sure  that  you  have  coal  enough  to  last  to  the 
end  of  the  voyage  ;  — 

In  these,  and  in  all  similar  cases,  the  more  slow 
ly  you  go,  the  farther  the  force  you  have  will  car 
ry  you  before  it  becomes  exhausted. 

Hollo  and  Jennie  went  on  running  for  a  few 
minutes,  as  they  ascended  the  staircase,  round  and 
round  ;  but  their  strength  was  soon  spent  by  this 
violent  exertion,  and  they  sat  down  on  the  stair? 
entirely  exhausted.  And  yet  they  had  not  come 
up  very  high.  The  whole  height  of  this  first 


118  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  height  of  the  church.        Stopping  to  rest.        The  south  transept. 

staircase,  which  the  party  were  now  ascending, 
was  only  about  as  much  as  a  house  four  stories 
high  ;  whereas  the  whole  height  of  the  church, 
to  the  very  top,  is  equal  to  that  of  a  house  —  if 
such  a  house  there  could  be  — forty  stories  high. 
So  that  thus  far  they  had  come  not  one  tenth  part 
of  the  way  to  the  top. 

While  Rollo  and  Jennie  were  sitting  on  the 
stairs,  resting  from  their  fatigue,  they  began  to 
hear,  after  a  time,  the  voices  of  Mr.  George  and 
Mrs.  Holiday,  ascending. 

"  Are  we  nearly  at  the  top  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  Stay  till 
you  get  rested,  and  then  follow  on." 

So  saying,  Mr.  George  and  Mrs.  Holiday  passed 
by,  ascending  the  stairs  very  slowly,  step  by  step, 
as  they  had  begun. 

Rollo  and  Jennie  were  not  willing  to  be  left 
behind  ;  so  they  followed  immediately  ;  and  after 
a  few  more  turns  they  found  themselves,  to  their 
great  joy,  at  the  top  of  the  staircase.  They  came 
out  in  a  large  garret-like  looking  room,  which 
was  over  the  south  transept  of  the  church.  You 
can  see  the  end  of  the  south  transept  in  the 
engraving.  It  is  the  part  which  you  see  project 
ing  from  the  main  body  of  the  church  on  the  right, 
with  a  circular  portico  leading  to  it.  There  is  a 
similar  circular  portico,  with  circular  steps  out- 


ST.    PAUL'S. 


119 


View  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral. 


Bide,  at  the  entrance  to  the  north  transept,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  church,  which,  however,  is  not 
shown  in  the  engraving. 


ST    PAUL  S 


120  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  halls,  or  corridors,  under  the  roof. 

The  party  passed  under  a  great  archway  which 
led  towards  the  centre  of  the  church,  and  pres 
ently  they  came  to  another  long  and  garret-like 
looking  hall,  or  corridor,  with  great  arches  of 
masonry  passing  over  it  from  one  side  to  the 
other  at  regular  intervals  along  its  whole  length, 
like  the  beams  and  rafters  of  wood  in  an  ordina 
ry  garret.  This  great  vacant  space  was  directly 
over  one  of  the  side  aisles  of  the  church.* 

"  What  a  monstrous  long  garret !  "  said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  and  there  is  some 
thing  very  curious  about  this  garret,  as  you  call 
it,  which  I  will  explain  to  you  some  other  time." 

Rollo  was  very  willing  to  have  this  explanation 
postponed  ;  for  his  attention  was  just  now  attract- 


*  The  reader  will  recollect,  from  the  description  of  "Westminster 
Abbey,  that  the  central  part  of  the  body  of  the  church  is  called 
the  nave,  and  that  the  parts  of  each  side  of  the  nave,  beyond  the 
ranges  of  columns  that  border  it  on  the  north  and  on  the  south, 
are  called  the  aisles,  and  that  the  aisles  are  not  so  high  usually  as 
the  nave.  The  long,  vacant  space  which  our  party  was  now  trav 
ersing  was  directly  over  the  south  aisle.  They  were  coming 
towards  the  spectator,  in  the  view  of  the  church  represented  in  the 
engraving.  You  see  two  towers  in  the  front  of  the  building  shown 
in  the  engraving.  The  one  on  the  right  hand  is  on  the  south,  and 
Is  called  the  clock  tower.  The  other  tower,  which  is  on  the  north, 
is  called  the  belfry.  The  party  were  coming  along  over  the  south 
aisle  and  south  transept  towards  this  south  tower.  If  you  read 
this  explanation  attentively,  comparing  it  with  the  engraving,  and 
compare  the  rest  of  the  description  with  the  engraving,  you  will 
be  able  to  fallow  the  party  exactly  through  the  whale  of  thrir 
ascent. 


ST.    PAUL'S.  121 

Iiapleme  its  for  use  in  case  of  fire.        Water  buckets.        The  engine. 

ed  by  some  curious-looking  tools,  consisting  of 
axes,  hammers,  and  saws,  which  were  arranged 
in  a  very  symmetrical  manner,  in  a  sort  of  circle, 
on  the  wall  near  him.  There  were  two  or  three 
men  in  this  part  of  the  building,  and  one  of  them 
came  forward  to  show  this  party  which  way  they 
were  to  go.  Rollo  asked  this  man  what  these 
tools  were  for.  He  said  they  were  to  be  used  in 
case  of  fire. 

The  tools  were  very  antique  and  venerable  in 
their  form,  and  looked  as  if  they  might  have  been 
hanging  where  they  were  untouched  for  centuries. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  and  there  are  some  buck 
ets,  too,  for  the  same  purpose." 

So  saying,  he  pointed  to  a  row  of  buckets 
which  he  saw  hanging  along  the  wall  on  the  other 
side. 

"  Yes,"  said  Jennie  ;  "  and  there  is  a  little  fire 
engine." 

The  man  who  had  undertaken  to  guide  them 
now  led  the  way,  and  the  party  followed  him,  till 
they  came  to  the  clock  tower,  which  is  the  one 
that  is  seen  in  the  engraving  in  the  front  of  the 
building,  towards  the  right.  Then  he  conducted 
them,  after  passing  through  various  galleries  and 
chambers,  to  a  large  and  handsome  room,  with  a 
table  and  some  chairs  in  the  middle  of  it,  and 
carved  bookcases  filled  with  very  ancient-looking 


122  ROLLO   IN    LONDON. 

The  library  in  the  tower.  The  guide's  speech. 

books  all  round  the  sides.  As  soon  as  the  party 
had  all  entered  the  room  the  guide  turned  round 
towards  them,  and,  in  a  very  formal  and  monoto 
nous  manner,  like  a  schoolboy  reciting  a  speech 
which  he  had  committed  to  memory  for  a  declama 
tion,  made  the  following  statement :  — 

"  This  room  is  the  library  room  of  the  dean 
and  chapter.  It  is  fifty  feet  long  and  forty  feet 
wide.  The  floor  is  of  oak.  It  is  made  of  two 
thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy-six  square 
pieces,  curiously  inlaid,  without  a  nail  or  a  peg  to 
fasten  them  together." 

After  looking  about  for  a  little  time  in  this 
room,  in  which,  after  all,  there  was  nothing  very 
remarkable  or  interesting  except  the  idea  that  it 
was  situated  in  one  of  the  towers  of  St.  Paul's,  the 
party  were  conducted  across  the  end  of  the  church 
towards  the  other  tower  seen  in  the  engraving ; 
that  is,  the  tower  on  the  left,  which  is  used  as  a 
belfry.  In  passing  through  from  one  of  the^e 
towers  to  the  other,  the  party  traversed  a  sort 
of  gallery  which  was  built  here  across  the  end  of 
the  church,  and  which  afforded  a  very  command, 
ing  view  of  the  whole  interior  of  the  edifice. 
The  whole  party  stopped  a  moment  in  this  gallery 
to  look  down  into  the  church  below.  They  could 


ST.    PAUL'S.  123 


Rollo  and  Jennie  look  down  from  the  gallery  into  the  church  below 

see  through  the  whole  length  of  it,  five  hundred 
feet ;  and  Hollo  and  Jennie  were  very  much 
amused  at  the  groups  of  people  that  were  walking 
about  here  and  there,  like  mites,  on  the  marble 
floor.  They  could  see,  at  a  great  distance,  the 
place  where  the  transepts  crossed  the  main 
building  ;  but  of  course  they  could  not  see  far  into 
the  transepts.  In  the  same  manner  they  could 
see  the  beginning  of  the  dome  ;  but  they  could  not 
see  very  far  up  into  it,  the  view  being  cut  off  by 
the  vaulted  roof  of  the  nave,  which  was  nearer. 

After  this  our  party  went  to  see  various  other 
curious  places  in  and  near  these  two  great  towers. 
One  of  these  places  .was  called  the  model  room, 
where  there  is  a  very  large  model  of  a  plan  for  a 
church  which  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  the  archi 
tect  who  built  St.  Paul's,  first  designed.  By  most 
good  judges,  it  is  thought  to  be  a  better  design 
than  the  one  which  was  finally  adopted.  There 
were,  besides  this,  various  other  curious  models 
and  old  relics  in  this  room. 

The  party  also  went  up  into  the  clock  tower, 
by  means  of  a  very  narrow,  steep,  and  winding 
staircase,  where  there  was  only  room  for  one 
to  go  at  a  time.  The  steps  were  of  stone,  but 
they  were  greatly  worn  away  by  the  footsteps  of 
the  thousands  of  visitors  that  had  ascended  them. 

There  was  a  woman  at  the  top  of  the  stairs 


124  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

An  immense  clock.  The  three  bells.  Old  St.  PauPg. 

who  had  the  charge  of  the  clock  room.  This 
woman  showed  the  party  the  wheels  of  the  clock, 
which  were  of  prodigious  magnitude.*  There 
were  three  bells  —  two  that  were  called  the  small 
bells,  though  they  were  really  very  large,  and 
one  which  was  called  the  large  bell.  This  last, 
Rollo  said,  was  a  monster. 

"  The  small  bells,"  said  the  woman,  pointing  up 
to  the  bells,  which  Rollo  and  Jennie  saw  far 
above  their  heads,  in  the  midst  of  a  maze  of  beams 
and  rafters,  "  chime  the  quarter  hours.  The  great 
bell  strikes  the  hours,  and  tolls  in  case  of  the 
death  of  any  member  of  the  royal  family." 

"  I  don't  see  any  thing  very  remarkable  about 
them,"  said  Rollo  to  his  mother.  "  They  are  only 
three  common  bells." 

"  No,"  replied  Mrs.  Holiday,  "  the  things  them 
selves  that  are  to  be  seen  are  nothing.  It  is  only 
the  curious  places  that  we  climb  up  to  to  see 
them,  and  the  thought  that  we  are  in  the  verita 
ble  old  St.  Paul's." 

After  having  talked  some  little  time  with  the 
woman  about  the  clock  and  the  bells,  and  about 
the  visitors  that  come  from  day  to  day  to  sco 

*  The  works  of  this  clock  are  on  such  a  scale  that  the  pendu 
lum  is  fourteen  feet  long,  and  the  weight  at  the  end  weighs  more 
than  one  hundred  pounds.  The  minute  hand  is  eight  feet  long; 
and  weighs  seventy-five  pounds. 


ST.    PAUL'S. 


125 


The  party  go  down  stairs  again. 


them,  the  party  descended  again,  by  the  dark  and 
narrow  stairway,  to  the  great  corridor  by  which 
they  came  to  this  part  of  the  church,  in  order  to 
visit  the  parts  of  the  edifice  connected  with  the 
dome  and  cupola,  which  are,  in  some  respects, 
more  interesting  than  all  the  rest. 


126  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  two  domes.  The  long  corridor.  The  whispering  gallery. 


CHAPTER    X . 
THE  DOME   OF    ST.   PAUL'S. 

THE  dome  of  St.  Paul's  rises  above  the  centre  of 
the  church,  over  the  intersection  of  the  arms  of  the 
cross.  There  are,  in  fact,  two  domes  —  an  inte 
rior  and  an  exterior  one ;  and  there  are  three 
galleries  connected  with  them  which  strangers 
visit.  The  first  of  these  galleries  is  an  interior 
one.  It  passes  round  the  church  on  the  inside, 
just  at  the  base  of  the  interior  dome.  Our  par 
ty  were  going  first  to  visit  this  gallery. 

They  accordingly  walked  back  through  the 
whole  length  of  the  long  corridor  described  at  the 
close  of  the  last  chapter,  and  then  turned  in 
towards  the  centre  of  the  building  through  a  sort 
of  passage  way  leading  to  a  door  which  was 
pointed  out  to  them  by  the  guide.  On  entering 
this  door,  they  found  themselves  ushered  at  once 
into  the  whispering  gallery.  This  they  found 
was  a  vast  circular  gallery,  extending  all  round 
the  interior  of  the  church,  directly  under  the 
dome. 


THE    DOME    OF   ST.    PAUL'S.    127 

Rollo  and  Jennie  look  down  into  the  church. 

"Ah,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  here  we  are  in  the 
whispering  gallery  ! " 

There  was  a  man  standing  just  inside  the  door. 
He  accosted  the  party  as  soon  as  they  came  in. 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  said  he,  "  this  is  the 
whispering  gallery.  If  you  will  pass  round  to 
the  other  side  of  it,  and  put  your  ears  against  the 
wall,  I  will  show  you  the  effect." 

So,  Mr.  George  leading  the  way,  and  the  others 
following,  they  all  passed  round  the  gallery 
towards  the  other  side.  The  gallery  was  not  very 
wide,  the  space  being  only  sufficient  for  two  or 
three  persons  to  walk  abreast.  There  was  a  high 
balustrade  on  the  edge  of  it,  and  on  the  other 
side  a  continuous  seat  against  the  wall.  First 
Rollo  and  Jennie,  running  forward  a  little  way, 
sat  down  on  the  seat  to  try  it.  Then,  going  for 
ward  again  a  little  in  advance  of  Mr.  George 
and  Mrs.  Holiday,  they  stopped  to  look  over  the 
balustrade.  Rollo  could  look  over  it  down  upon 
the  floor  of  the  church  far  below.  Jennie  wag 
not  tall  enough  to  look  over  the  balustrade,  and 
so  she  looked  through. 

"  There  !  "  said  Rollo  to  Jennie,  pointing  down  ; 
"  there's  the  place  where  we  stood  when  we 
looked  up  to  this  whispering  gallery  at  the  time 
we  first  came  in." 

The  party  went  on  until  they  had  walked  half 


128 


ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 


The  party  try  the  whispering  gallery. 


round  the  gallery  and  were  exactly  opposite  the 
man  who  was  standing  at  the  door  where  they 
had  entered.  Here  Mr.  George  stopped  and  sat 
down  upon  the  seat. 


THE    WHISPERING    GALLE11Y. 


"  Come,"  said  he,  "  we  must  all  sit  down  on 
this  seat  and  put  our  ears  against  the  wall." 

Mrs.  Holiday  and  the  children  did  as  Mr. 
George  had  directed,  and  listened.  The  man  at 


THE    DOME    OF    ST.    PAUL'S.     129 

Extraordinary  effect  Painting  the  dome.  The  staging. 

the  door,  then  putting  his  mouth  to  the  wall,  began 
to  speak  in  a  low  tone,  —  almost  in  a  whisper,  in 
fact,  —  saying  something  about  the  building  of 
the  church  •  and  though  he  was  at  a  great  distance 
from  them,  —  so  far,  that  if  he  had  been  in  the 
open  air  it  would  have  been  necessary  for  him 
to  have  called  out  in  a  very  loud  voice  to  make 
them  hear,  —  yet  every  word  and  syllable  of  his 
whisper  was  distinctly  audible,  the  sound  being 
brought  round  in  some  mysterious  manner  along 
the  smooth  surface  of  the  wall. 

"  It  is  very  extraordinary !  "  said  Mrs.  Hol 
iday. 

"  It  is,  indeed  !  "  said  Mr.    George. 

Eollo  himself,  however,  did  not  seem  to  be  so 
much  interested  in  this  acoustic  phenomenon  as 
his  uncle  had  been.  His  attention  was  attracted 
to  the  spectacle  of  the  workmen,  who  were  em 
ployed  in  repainting  the  inner  surface  of  the  dome, 
and  whom  he  could  now  see  at  their  work  on  the 
staging  which  he  had  looked  up  to  from  below. 
One  side  of  the  staging — the  side  towards  the 
wall  —  was  supported  by  a  cornice,  which  it  rest 
ed  upon  there.  The  other  side  —  the  side  that 
was  towards  the  centre  of  the  dome  —  was  sus 
pended  by  ropes  and  pulleys,  which  came  down 
through  the  lantern  from  a  vast  height  above. 

There  was  a  ladder,  the  foot  of  which  rested 
9 


130  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 


The  party  leave  the  whispering  gallery. 


on  tliis  staging,  the  top  of  it  being  placed  against 
the  surface  of  the  dome  above.  There  was  a  man 
upon  this  ladder,  near  the  top  of  it,  at  work  on 
the  ceiling,  and  two  or  three  assistants  on  the 
staging  at  the  foot  of  it. 

Rollo  and  Jennie  gazed  some  time  with  great 
wonder  and  awe  at  this  spectacle,  picturing  to 
their  imaginations  the  scene  which  would  ensue 
if  the  ropes  from  the  lantern  above,  by  which  the 
staging  was  suspended,  were  to  break  and  let  the 
staging,  the  ladders,  and  the  men  all  down  to  the 
pavement  below. 

Presently  Rollo  and  Jane,  on  looking  up,  found 
that  Mr.  George  and  Mrs.  Holiday  were  going 
back  ;  so  they  made  haste  to  follow  them.  On 
their  way  towards  the  door  they  met  other  par 
ties  corning  in  to  see  the  whispering  gallery. 
They  themselves  went  out  j  and,  following  the  di 
rections  of  the  guide,  they  began  to  ascend  again, 
by  various  intricate  and  winding  staircases,  to 
higher  parts  of  the  building  still.  After  ascend 
ing  to  the  height  of  four  or  five  stories  more,  the 
party  came  to  another  gallery,  which  was,  how 
ever,  outside  of  the  church  instead  of  within  it. 
This  outer  gallery  is  called  the  stone  gallery ; 
it  is  so  called  to  distinguish  it  from  another  outer 
gallery,  still  higher  up,  called  the  golden  gallery. 
You  can  see  the  places  of  both  these  galleries  by 


THE    DOME    OF    ST.    PAUL'S.    131 

The  stone  gallery-  The  prospect.  "  How  high  we  are  !  » 

looking  at  the  engraving,  as  they  are  both  outside 
of  the  building.  The  stone  gallery  is  below  the 
dome.  You  can  see  the  balustrade  surrounding  it, 
just  above  the  head  of  the  statue  which  stands  on 
the  pediment  in  the  centre  of  the  building.  There 
is  a  row  of  columns  above  this  gallery  which  sup 
ports  an  entablature  above  them,  that  forms  the 
base  of  the  dome. 

As  soon  as  the  party  came  out  into  the  open 
air  they  began  to  realize  how  high  they  had  as 
cended  ;  for  they  found,  on  looking  down  into  the 
neighboring  streets,  that  the  tops  of  the  chimneys 
of  the  six-story  houses  there  were  far  below  them. 
And  yet,  as  you  will  see  by  looking  at  the  engrav 
ing,  they  had  not,  thus  far,  ascended  more  than 
half  way  to  the  top  of  the  building. 

The  party  walked  round  the  stone  gallery, 
looking  off  over  the  roofs  of  the  houses  in  the 
city  on  every  side.  They  could  see  the  river,  the 
bridges,  vast  ranges  of  warehouses,  and  long 
streets,  with  tiny  omnibuses  and  carts  creeping 
slowly  along  them,  and  men,  like  mites,  moving 
to  and  fro  along  the  sidewalks.  They  could  see 
tall  chimneys,  too,  pouring  forth  columns  of  smoke, 
and  steeples  and  spires  of  churches,  far  below 
them. 

'*  How  high  we  are  !  "  said  Hollo. 


132  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Inner  and  outer  domes.  Space  between.  A  maze  of  beams. 

"  Yes/7  said  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  "  I  am  high  enough. 
I  do  not  wish  to  go  any  higher." 

In  fact,  it  was  somewhat  frightful  to  be  so  high. 
It  even  made  Mr.  George  dizzy  to  look  down 
from  so  vast  an  elevation. 

"  Are  we  above,  or  below,  the  dome  ? "  said 
Mrs.  Holiday. 

"  We  are  above  the  inner  dome,"  said  Mr. 
George,  "  but  below  the  outer  one." 

"  I  thought  they  were  both  the  same,"  said  Mrs. 
.  Toliday.  "  I  thought  the  inner  dome  was  the 
under  side  of  the  outer  one." 

''It  ought  to  be,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  but  it  is 
not  so  in  St.  Paul's.  There  is  a  great  space  be 
tween,  filled  with  masonry  and  carpentry." 

Here  Mr.  George  led  the  way  up  a  flight  of 
stone  steps  that  ascended  from  the  gallery  to  a 
door  leading  into  the  interior  of  the  church 
again.  When  they  had  all  entered  they  looked 
up  and  saw  above  and  around  them  the  com 
mencement  of  a  perfect  maze  of  beams,  piers, 
walls,  buttresses,  and  braces,  all  blackened  by  the 
smoky  London  atmosphere,  and  worn  and  corrod 
ed  by  time.  What  was  near  of  this  immense 
complication  was  dimly  seen  by  the  faint  light 
which  made  its  way  through  the  narrow  openings 
which  were  left  here  and  there  in  nooks  and  cor- 


THE    DOME    OF    ST.    PAUL'S.    133 

The  dome  of  wood.  A  frightful-locking  den.  The  staircase. 

ners  ;  but  the  rest  was  lost  in  regions  of  darkness 
and  gloom,  into  which  the  eye  strove  in  vain  to 
penetrate. 

This  was  the  space  between  the  inner  and  the 
outer  dome.  The  walls  which  were  seen  were 
part  of  an  immense  cone  of  masonry  which  was 
built  in  the  centre  to  sustain  the  whole  structure. 
The  lantern  above,  with  the  ball  and  cross  sur 
mounting  it,  rests  on  the  top  of  this  cone.  The 
outer  dome  is  formed  around  the  sides  of  it  with 
out.  This  outer  dome  is  made  of  wood  ;  and  the 
immense  system  of  beams  and  braces  which  our 
party  saw  in  the  darkness  around  them  were 
parts  of  the  framework  by  which  it  is  sup 
ported. 

As  our  party  came  into  this  frightful-looking 
den  of  darkness  and  terror,  they  found  themselves 
at  the  foot  of  a  steep,  but  pretty  broad  and 
straight,  flight  of  steps,  that  seemed  to  lead  up 
into  the  midst  of  the  obscure  and  gloomy  maze, 
though  the  eye  could  follow  it  only  for  a  short 
distance. 

Mrs.  Holiday  hung  back.  She  was  evidently 
disinclined  to  go  any  farther. 

"  It  is  not  worth  while  for  us  to  go  any  farther 
is  it  ?  "  said  she,  timidly. 

"  That  is  just  as  you  please,"  said  Mr.  George. 
:  It  is  rather  frightful,  I  admit." 


134  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Rollo  goes  up.  Mrs.  Holiday  afraid.  Mr.  George-s  rule. 

"  Ah,  yes,  mother,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  let  us  go  up  a 
little  higher." 

"  No,"  said  Jennie  ;  "  I  don't  want  to  go  up  any 
niDre.  It  frightens  me." 

Mrs.  Holiday  would  have  made  great  efforts  to 
overcome  her  fears,  out  of  regard  to  Rollo's 
wishes,  if  he  had  been  there  alone  ;  but  balanced 
between  his  desires  to  proceed  and  Jennie's  fears, 
she  seemed  to  be  at  a  loss.  She  stood  at  the  foot 
of  the  stairs,  looking  anxious  and  undecided. 

Rollo  began  to  go  up  the  staircase. 

"  Take  care,  Rollo  !  "  said  his  mother. 

"  There  is  no  danger,"  said  Rollo.  "  There  is 
an  excellent  railing.  I  am  only  going  up  a  little 
way  to  see  how  far  these  straight  stairs  go. 

"  I  can  see  the  top  !  "  said  he  again,  presently. 
"  It  is  only  a  little  way,  and  there  is  a  good  broad 
landing  here.  Come,  Jennie  !  come  up  !  " 

"  Would  you  go  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  looking 
to  Mr.  George. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  if  you  feel  in 
clined.  My  rule  always  is,  to  allow  the  lady  to 
do  just  as  she  pleases  in  going  into  places  where 
she  is  afraid." 

"  I  wish  other  gentlemen  would  always  adopt 
that  rule,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"Do  you  think  there  is  any  danger  ?  "  asked 
Mrs.  Holiday. 


THE    DOME    OF    ST.    PAUL'S.    135 

Mr.  George  gives  the  reason  for  his  rule. 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  I  am  sure  there 
cannot  be  any  danger.  The  way  up  here  is  as 
public  as  almost  any  part  of  London ;  and  peo 
ple  are  going  up  and  coming  down  continual 
ly,  and  no  accidents  are  ever  heard  of.  In  fact, 
we  know  that  the  authorities  would  not  admit 
the  public  to  such  a  place  until  they  had  first 
guarded  it  at  every  point,  so  as  to  make  it  per 
fectly  safe." 

"Then,"  said  Rollo,  who  had  stood  all  this 
time  listening  on  the  stairs,  "  why  don't  you  ad 
vise  mother  to  come  right  up  ?  " 

"  Because,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  she  might  suffer 
a  great  deal  from  fear,  though  she  might  not  meet 
with  any  actual  harm,  or  even  fall  into  any  real 
danger.  I  don't  wish  to  have  her  suffer,  even 
from  fear." 

"  We  might  go  up  to  the  top  of  this  first 
flight,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday.  "  I  believe  I  can  see 
the  top  of  it." 

Mr.  George  found,  on  looking  up,  that  he 
could  distinctly  see  the  landing  at  the  top  of  this 
first  flight  of  steps,  his  eyes  having  now  become 
somewhat  accustomed  to  the  dim  light  of  the 
place.  He  fully  approved  of  the  plan  of  going 
up  this  flight,  and  he  offered  Mrs.  Holiday  hia 
arm  to  assist  her  in  the  ascent. 

"  No,"  said  she ;    "  I  would  rather  that  you 


136  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  party  all  go  up  the  stairs  together. 

would  help  Jennie.     I  will  take  hold  of  the  bal 
uster,  if  you  will  lead  Jennie." 

Tliis  arrangement  was  adopted,  and  the  whole 
party  soon  reached  the  first  landing  in  safety. 

In  making  this  ascent,  Mrs.  Holiday  found  her 
fears  diminishing  rather  than  increasing,  which 
was  owing  partly  to  the  fact  that,  as  her  eyes  be 
came  accustomed  to  the  place,  she  began  to  dis 
cern  the  objects  around  her  ;  so  she  went  timidly 
on,  Mr.  George  preceding  her,  and  encouraging 
her  from  time  to  time  by  cheering  words,  up  a 
series  of  staircases,  which  twisted  and  turned  by 
the  most  devious  windings  and  zigzags,  wherever 
there  appeared  to  be  the  most  convenient  open 
ings  for  them  among  the  timbers  and  the  mason 
ry.  The  party  stopped  from  time  to  time  to  rest. 
At  every  such  halt  Mrs.  Holiday  seemed  half  dis 
couraged,  and  paused  to  consider  anew  the  ques 
tion,  whether  she  should  go  on  any  farther,  or  re 
turn.  Mr.  George  left  her  entirely  at  liberty 
every  time  to  decide  the  question  just  as  she 
pleased ;  and  she  always  finally  concluded  to 
go  on. 

Thus  they  continued  to  ascend  for  more  than 
a  hundred  feet  above  the  stone  gallery  •  and  at 
length  they  came  out  upon  another  outside  gal 
lery,  which  is  formed  around  the  top  of  the  dome, 
at  the  foot  of  what  is  called  the  lantern.  You 


THE    DOME    OF    ST.    PAUL'S.    137 

The  golden  gallery.          Another  party.  Mrs.  Holiday's  difficulty. 

can  see  the  place  of  this  gallery  in  the  engrav 
ing  ;  though  it  is  so  high  that  the  gallery  itself, 
though  surrounded  by  a  massive  balustrade,  can 
scarcely  be  discerned.  A  person  standing  there 
would  be  wholly  invisible.  This  is  called  the 
golden  gallery.  It  receives  that  name  from  the 
fact  that  it  is  surrounded  by  a  gilded  balustrade. 

Of  course  the  view  from  this  upper  gallery  was 
far  more  extended  than  the  one  below  ;  but  our 
party  did  not  enjoy  it  much,  it  made  them  so 
giddy  to  look  down  ;  and  although  the  gilded 
balustrade  was  extremely  massive,  and  was  built 
into  the  stonework  in  the  firmest  and  most  solid 
manner,  Mrs.  Holiday,  and  even  Mr.  George, 
were  afraid  to  go  near  it  •  and  the  idea  of  leaning 
upon  it,  to  look  over,  seemed  perfectly  frightful. 

There  were  some  young  men  in  the  gallery 
when  our  party  came  up.  They  were  just  prepar 
ing  to  continue  their  ascent,  under  the  charge  of 
a  guide,  up  to  the  cupola.  The  guide  seemed  de 
sirous  of  taking  all  who  were  going  in  one  party. 
So  he  turned  to  Mr.  George  and  said,  — 

"Do  your  party  wish  to  go  up  into  the  ball ?  " 

Mr.  George  looked  towards  Mrs.  Holiday. 

Mrs.  Holiday  was  very  unwilling  to  prevent 
Mr.  George  from  ascending  as  high  as  he  desired, 
but  she  was  afraid  to  go  up  any  farther  herself, 
and  she  was  unwilling  to  stay  where  she  was  with 


138  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

They  decide  not  to  go  any  farther  up. 

the  children  while  he  should  be  gone.  It  seemed 
as  if  the  whole  of  the  lofty  mass  on  which  she 
was  standing  was  toppling,  ready  to  fall,  and  that 
the  first  breath  of  wind  that  should  come  would 
blow  it  down,  cupola,  dome,  and  galleries,  all  to 
gether. 

"  How  much  farther  is  it  to  the  top  ?  "  said  she, 
timidly, 

"  A  hundred  feet,"  said  the  guide. 

Mrs.  Holiday  looked  more  alarmed  than  ever. 

"  A  hundred  feet !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  George. 
"  Why,  I  thought  we  were  nearly  at  the  top  ;  and 
yet  there  are  a  hundred  feet  more  !  A  hundred 
feet  is  equal  to  a  house  ten  or  twelve  stories 
high  ! 

"  I  don't  know  that  it  is  worth  while  for  us  to 
go  up  any  higher,"  continued  Mr.  George,  speak 
ing  to  Mrs.  Holiday,  "  unless  you  wish  it." 

"  No,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  "  I  am  sure  /  don't 
wish  to  go  any  higher." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Mr.  George  to  the  guide  ; 
"  we  will  not  go." 

So  the  guile  set  out  with  the  young  men 
alone. 

"  There  cannot  be  any  pleasure  in  it,  lam  sure," 
Baid  Mr.  George. 

"  No,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  "  there  :'s  more  pain 
than  pleasure  in  coming  up  here  r " 


THE    DOME    OF    ST.  PAUL'S.    139 

Mr.  George's  reasoning.  Its  effect.  They  go  down  again. 

"Nor  any  advantage,  that  I  can  see,"  added 
Mr.  George. 

"  Except  to  be  able  to  say,"  continued  Mrs. 
Holiday,  "  when  we  get  back  to  America,  that  we 
have  been  up  into  the  ball." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  and  that,  I  think, 
is  rather  a  doubtful  advantage  for  a  lady.  The 
class  of  ladies  that  like  to  boast  of  having  gone 
where  other  ladies  seldom  go  are  generally 
of  rather  a  masculine  character  ;  and  I  don't 
think  they  gain  a  very  desirable  kind  of  reputa 
tion  by  performing  such  exploits.'' 

Whether  Mr.  George  was  correct  or  not  in  this 
reasoning,  it  had  the  effect  of  relieving  Mrs.  Holi 
day  very  considerably  of  any  feeling  of  disappoint 
ment  she  might  have  experienced  in  not  having  as 
cended  to  the  highest  accessible  point  in  the  build 
ing  •  and  so,  after  pausing  a  few  minutes  in  the 
golden  gallery  to  take  hurried  glances  at  the  sur 
rounding  views  and  to  recover  breath,  the  party 
went  back  to  the  inside  of  the  building  and  com 
menced  the  descent.  They  stopped  occasionally  to 
sit  down  and  rest  on  the  benches  which  they  found 
placed  at  convenient  distances,  in  various  nooks 
and  corners,  in  the  course  of  the  descent.  They 
encountered  several  other  parties  coming  up  ;  and 
sometimes  they  were  passed  by  parties  who  were 
going  down,  and  who  went  faster  than  they. 


140  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  ascent  into  the  ball  as  described  by  the  young  men. 

One  of  these  parties  consisted  of  two  young  men. 
Mr.  George  asked  them  if  they  went  up  into  the 
ball.  They  said  they  did.  He  asked  them  if  the 
ascent  was  very  steep  and  difficult. 

"  Yes,"  said  one  of  the  young  men  •  "  it  made 
my  limbs  quake,  I  can  assure  you." 

"  Did  you  actually  go  into  the  ball  ?  "  said 
Mr.  George. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  young  man. 

"  How  large  is  the  space  inside  ?  "  asked  Hollo. 

"  Large  enough  to  hold  eight  men,"  said  he. 
"  There  were  six  in  it  when  we  were  there,  and 
there  was  room  for  two  more." 

If  you  turn  to  the  engraving,  and  look  at  the 
ball  under  the  cross  as  it  is  represented  there,  you 
will  be  surprised  to  think  that  it  is  large  enough 
to  contain  eight  men  ;  but  such  is  the  fact.  It  is 
its  immense  height  from  the  ground  that  makes  it 
appear  so  small. 

Hollo  and  Jennie  began  to  count  the  steps  as 
they  came  down,  and  they  went  on  very  patiently 
in  this  work  until  they  got  to  between  one  hun 
dred  and  sixty  and  one  hundred  and  seventy  ;  and 
here,  in  some  way  or  other,  they  lost  their  reck 
oning,  and  so  gave  up  the  attempt.  Rollo,  how 
ever,  afterwards  found  from  his  guide  book  that 
the  whole  number  of  steps  from  the  ground  to 
the  ball  was  six  hundred  and  sixteen. 


THE    DOME    OF    ST.    PAUL'S.    141 

The  visit  to  the  crypt.        The  scene  among  the  tombs.        The  return. 

The  party  at  length  reached  the  floor  of  the 
church  again  in  safety.  They  then  went  down  to 
see  what  was  called  the  crypt,  which  they  found 
to  be  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  range  of  sub 
terranean  chambers,  precisely  like  the  cellars  of  a 
great  house,  only  they  were  filled  with  tombs, 
and  monuments,  and  old  effigies  of  dead  crusa 
ders,  some  standing  up  and  some  lying  down,  some 
new  and  some  old,  some  whole  and  others  broken 
to  pieces.  The  whole  place  was  damp,  chilly, 
and  disagreeable  ;  and  the  party  were  very  glad 
to  escape  from  it  and  to  get  back  to  the  light  of 
day. 


142  ROLLO     IN     LOKDON. 


Preparing  for  in  illumination. 


CHAPTER    XI . 
THE    ARISTOCRACY. 

"  WHAT  do  you  suppose  that  man  is  doing  upon 
that  ladder  ?  "  said  Rollo  to  Mr.  George. 

Rollo  and  Mr.  George  were  walking  together  in 
one  of  the  streets  at  the  West  End,  near  St.  James's 
Palace,  when  Rollo  asked  this  question,  on  the 
morning  of  the  day  after  they  paid  their  visit  to  St. 
Paul's.  The  man  on  the  ladder  was  placing  some 
lamps  on  a  frame  over  the  door  of  a  large  and 
beautiful  mansion,  as  if  for  an  illumination.  The 
lamps  were  disposed  in  such  a  manner  as  to  form 
a  great  star,  with  the  letters  "  V.  R.';  on  a  very 
large  scale,  one  on  each  side  of  it. 

"  The  Y.  R.  stands  for  Victoria  Regina,"  said 
Mr.  George  ;  "  that  is,  Victoria  Queen." 

"  Then  it  must  be  that  they  are  going  to  have 
an  illumination  in  honor  of  the  queen,"  rejoined 
Rollo.  "  I  have  seen  two  more  of  such  frames 
putting  up  before  this." 

On  going  along  a  little  farther,  Rollo  pointed 
out  another  house  to  Mr.  George  where  lamps 


THE    ARISTOCRACY.  143 

St.  James's  Square.  Residences  of  the  nobility.  A  crowd. 

were  arranged  for  an  illumination ;  and  then, 
presently,  another.  Mr.  George  accordingly 
stopped-  to  ask  a  policeman  what  it  meant. 

"  It  is  the  queen's  birthday/7  said  the  policeman  ; 
"  and  this  evening  they  illuminate  the  houses." 

"  I'm  glad  of  that,"  said  Rollo.  "  We  will 
come  out  and  see  ;  won't  we,  uncle  George  ?  " 

The  part  of  the  town  where  Mr.  George  and 
Rollo  were  walking  at  this  time  —  the  vicinity  of 
St.  James's  Square  —  is  the  region  occupied  by 
the  palaces  and  mansions  of  some  of  the  higher 
nobility  of  England.  These  residences  are  built 
in  a  very  open  manner,  standing,  many  of  them, 
apart  from  each  other,  and  being  in  the  midst  of 
parks,  gardens,  terraces,  and  pleasure  grounds, 
which  give  to  the  views  that  are  presented  to  the 
eye  of  the  stranger  in  walking  among  them  a 
most  enchanting  variety.  As  Mr.  George  and 
Rollo  passed  along  the  streets  among  these  resi 
dences,  they  soon  began  to  observe  other  marks 
of  excitement  besides  the  illuminations.  They 
saw  unusual  numbers  of  well-dressed  people  walk 
ing  along  the  sidewalks  •  and  at  length,  on  turning 
a  corner,  they  came  suddenly  into  a  street  where 
the  margin  of  the  sidewalk,  for  a  long  distance, 
was  lined  with  crowds  of  people,  —  men,  women, 
and  children,  —  who  seemed  to  be  waiting  for 


144  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  queen's  birthday.  St.  James's  Palace.  The  sentries. 

something  to  pass  by.     They  were,  in  fact,  wait 
ing  to  see  the  queen. 

As  has  already  been  said,  it  was  the  queen's 
birthday  •  and  it  is  the  custom  for  the  queen,  on 
her  birthday,  to  hold  what  is  called  "  a  drawing 
room,"  in  which  she  receives  the  calls  and  con 
gratulations  of  the  nobility  of  England,  the  for 
eign  ministers  resident  in  London,  and  of  such 
strangers  as  are  of  sufficient  distinction,  in  respect 
to  their  wealth,  their  rank,  or  their  fame,  to  enti 
tle  them  to  the  honor  of  being  presented  to  her 
majesty.  The  queen  does  not  receive  these  visits 
in  Buckingham  Palace,  which  is  the  principal 
place  of  her  residence  in  London,  but  in  St. 
James's  Palace,  which  is  an  older  edifice,  former 
ly  the  residence  of  the  royal  family,  but  now, 
since  Buckingham  Palace  was  built,  reserved  for 
official  and  state  purposes  and  occasions.  St. 
James's  Palace  is  a  large  and  irregularly-shaped 
building,  of  brick.  It  has  nothing  special  to  dis 
tinguish  it  from  the  other  buildings  that  surround 
it,  and  which,  in  fact,  some  of  them,  seem  to  be 
so  connected  with  it,  by  courts,  and  passages,  and 
wings,  and  arcades,  that  it  is  difficult  to  tell 
where  the  palace  begins  or  ends.  In  fact,  no 
one  would  suppose  that  it  was  a  palace  at  all 
were  it  not  for  the  soldiers,  in  red  uniforms, 


THE    ARISTOCRACY.  145 

Buckingham  Palace.  Green  Park.  The  gardens. 

which  are  to  be  seen  at  all  times  walking  to  and 
fro,  or  standing  sentry,  before  their  little  TDOXCS, 
at  every  door  and  gateway. 

Buckingham  Palace,  on  the  other  hand,  is  far 
ther  out  of  town.  It  stands  by  itself,  on  the 
margin  of  one  of  the  immense  parks  for  which 
London  is  so  famous  —  or,  rather,  on  the  margin 
of  two  of  them.  Before  it  is  St.  James's  Park, 
with  its  green  fields  and  its  winding  walks,  its 
groves  and  copses  of  trees  and  shrubbery,  its 
beds  and  borders  of  flowers,  and  above  all  its 
beautiful  little  lake,  with  gayly-painted  boats  to 
sail  upon  it,  and  flocks  of  ducks,  and  geese,  and 
swans,  of  every  form  and  color,  swimming  in 
all  directions  over  the  surface  of  the  water.  On 
the  side  of  it  is  the  Green  Park  —  a  broad  ex 
panse  of  the  smoothest  and  richest  green,  inter 
sected  with  drives  and  walks,  all  crowded  with 
promenaders.  Behind  the  palace  is  a  large  en 
closure,  which  contains  the  private  gardens  of  the 
palace  itself.  These  gardens  are  planted  and 
adorned  in  the  most  magnificent  manner  ;  but 
they  are  guarded  on  every  side  by  a  very  high 
wall,  and  by  a  continuous  line  of  trees,  which 
bear  a  very  dense  and  lofty  mass  of  foliage,  so 
that  the  public  can  never  see  what  is  in  them. 

Here  the  queen  resides  when  she  is  in  town, 
going  only  to  the  ancient  palace  of  St.  James  to 
10 


146  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Mr.  George  and  Hollo  wait  to  see  tho  royal  procession. 

attend  meetings  of  her  cabinet  council,  to  hold 
drawing  rooms  and  levees,  and  to  be  present  at 
other  great  ceremonies  of  state.  Whenever  oc 
casions  occur  on  which  her  majesty  is  expect 
ed  to  proceed  from  Buckingham  Palace  to  St. 
James's,  great  numbers  of  people  usually  assemble 
in  the  streets  between  to  see  the  royal  procession 
pass  by. 

Mr.  George,  having  learned  by  inquiry  what  it 
was  that  the  people  were  waiting  to  see,  deter 
mined  that  he  and  Rollo  would  wait  too.  So 
they  took  their  places  in  a  convenient  position, 
near  a  lamppost,  and  waited  for  her  majesty's 
coming. 

They  had  not  been  there  long  before  a  great 
movement  among  the  crowd  indicated  that  the 
royal  retinue  was  in  sight ;  and  a  moment  after 
wards  some  horsemen,  elegantly  dressed  and  ca 
parisoned,  came  rapidly  on,  followed  by  a  train 
of  two  or  three  carriages  very  elegantly  decorat 
ed,  and  with  servants  in  splendid  liveries  before 
and  behind,  and  finally  by  other  horsemen,  who 
brought  up  the  rear.  The  whole  cortege  went 
by  so  rapidly  that  Rollo  could  scarcely  distin 
guish  any  thing  in  detail.  It  passed  before  his 
eyes  like  a  gorgeous  vision,  leaving  on  his  mind 
only  confused  images  of  nodding  plumes,  beauti 
ful  horses,  gay  footmen  and  coachmen  clothed  in 


THE    ABISTOCKACY.  147 

Hollo's  wish.  The  crowds  disperse.  The  carriages. 

the  gayest  colors,  and  carriages  plain  and  simple 
ill  style,  but  inexpressibly  elegant  and  graceful 
in  their  forms  and  in  their  motions. 

There  was  a  moment's  pause  after  the  cortege 
went  by,  which  was,  however,  broken  at  length 
by  an  exclamation  of  wonder  and  delight  from 
Rollo. 

"  Hi— yi !  "  said  he.  "  I  should  like  to  be  the 
queen,  uncle  George  !  " 

"  Should  you  ?  "  said  Mr.  George. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  or  else  one  of  the 
queen's  soldiers,  to  ride  on  such  elegant  horses  as 
those." 

As  soon  as  the  cortege  had  passed,  the  crowd 
began  immediately  to  disperse  ;  and  yet  they  did 
not  go  away  at  once,  but  seemed  to  linger  along 
the  sidewalks  to  gaze  at  the  various  single  car 
riages  which  from  time  to  time  were  passing  by. 
These  carriages  were  all  very  elegant  in  form 
and  equipment,  and  had  servants  in  gay  liveries 
mounted  upon  them  before  and  behind,  and  they 
were  often  preceded  and  followed  by  outriders. 
These  equipages,  as  they  passed  to  and  fro  along 
the  street,  seemed  strongly  to  attract  the  attention 
of  the  bystanders.  The  children,  particularly, 
stopped  to  gaze  upon  each  one  of  them,  as  it  came 
by,  with  countenances  full  of  wonder  and  admi 
ration. 


148  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

St.  James's  Palace.  An  extraordinary  spectacle. 

"  There  are  a  great  many  carriages  out  to-day," 
said  Mr.  George. 

"  And  splendid  carriages  they  are,  too,"  said 
Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  the  carriages  and 
horses  of  the  English  aristocracy  are  the  finest 
in  the  world." 

Not  very  long  after  this,  Mr.  George  and  Rol 
lo,  in  the  course  of  their  walk,  happened  to  come 
to  a  place  in  the  street  that  was  opposite  to  the 
entrance  to  St.  James's  Palace,  where  the  car 
riages  set  down  the  company  that  were  going  to 
attend  the  drawing  room.  There  were  a  great 
many  people  assembled  on  the  sidewalks  all 
around  to  see  the  company  as  they  descended 
from  their  carriages.  The  scene,  in  fact,  pre 
sented  quite  an  extraordinary  spectacle. 

The  carriages,  which  were  of  every  form  and 
size,  arrived  in  very  rapid  succession,  and  drove 
into  a  sort  of  court  yard  to  the  door  where 
the  company  entered.  There  were  soldiers  and 
policemen  on  duty,  to  prevent  the  public  from 
rcoing  into  the  yard.  The  carriages,  however,  as 
tftey  drove  up  to  the  door,  and  the  company,  as 
1/iey  descended  from  them,  could  all  be  seen  very 
distinctly  from  the  street.  There  were  footmen 
behind  most  of  the  carriages,  who,  as  soon  as  the 
horses  drew  up,  stepped  down  from  their  places 


THE    ARISTOCRACY.  146 

"Aristocracy."  Definition  of  the  word. 

and  opened  the  carriage  door.  The  gentlemen 
and  ladies  were  all  dressed  very  gorgeously,  — 
the  gentlemen  being  clothed  in  military  uniforms, 
or  robes  of  office,  or  in  embroidered  and  gilded 
court  dresses,  —  each  dress  being  different,  appar 
ently,  from  all  the  rest.  The  liveries,  too,  of  the 
coachmen  and  of  the  footmen,  and  the  harnesses 
and  trappings  of  the  horses,  were  all  exceedingly 
splendid  and  gay. 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo,  with  some  hundreds  of 
other  spectators  who  had  assembled  to  witness  the 
scene,  stood  gazing  upon  it  with  great  interest 
for  nearly  an  hour.  When,  at  length,  their  curi 
osity  had  become  in  some  measure  satisfied,  they 
found  that  they  were  beginning  to  be  very  tired 
of  standing  so  long  ;  and  so  they  left  the  place, 
and  walked  away  slowly  towards  home. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  aristocracy  ? "  said 
Rollo  to  Mr.  George,  as  they  walked  along. 
"  Does  it  mean  the  rich  people  ?  " 

"  No,"  replied  Mr.  George,  "  not  exactly  that. 
It  means  rich  people  who  govern.  In  the  United 
States  there  are  a  great  many  very  rich  people  ; 
but  they  are  not  called  an  aristocracy,  because 
they  do  not  govern.  Every  thing  there  is  decid 
ed  by  voting,  and  every  person  that  is  a  man 
has  an  equal  right  with  all  the  rest  to  his  vote  ; 
at  least  this  is  the  case  in  the  Northern  States. 


150  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  English  arstocracy.  William  the  Conqueror. 

The  rich  have  no  more  power  than  the  rest ;  so 
they  do  not  constitute  an  aristocracy  in  the  cor 
rect  and  proper  meaning  of  the  term.  An  aris 
tocracy  in  any  country,  strictly  speaking,  is  a 
class  of  wealthy  people  who  govern  it,  or  who 
are  at  least  possessed  of  exclusive  privileges  and 
power." 

"  Suppose  the  class  of  people  who  govern  the 
country  should  be  poor,"  asked  Rollo  ;  "  would 
that  be  an  aristocracy  ?  " 

"  Such  a  thing  is  impossible  in  the  nature  of 
things,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  for  if  any  one  class 
gets  the  control  of  the  government  of  a  country, 
they  will  of  course  manage  it  in  such  a  way  as 
to  get  the  wealth  and  the  honors  mainly  to  them 
selves.  I  should  do  so.  You  would  do  so.  Ev 
ery  body  would  do  so.  It  is  human  nature.  Be 
ings  that  would  not  do  so  would  not  be  human." 

"  And  do  the  English  aristocracy  manage  in 
that  way  ?  "  asked  Hollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  The  state  of  the 
case,  as  I  understand  it,  is  just  this  :  A  number  of 
centuries  ago,  a  certain  prince  from  France  —  or 
rather  from  Normandy,  which  is  a  part  of  France 
—  came  over  to  England  with  an  army  and  con 
quered  the  country.  His  name  was  William  ;  and 
on  account  of  his  conquest  of  England,  he  re 
ceived  the  name  of  William  the  Conqueror.  He 


THE    ARISTOCRACY.  151 

History  of  the  English  government  The  new  nobility. 

parcelled  out  a  great  portion  of  the  land,  and  all 
the  offices  and  powers  of  government,  among  the 
nobles  and  generals  that  came  with  him  ;  and  they 
and  their  descendants  have  held  the  property  and 
the  power  to  the  present  day.  Thus  England,  so 
far  as  the  great  mass  of  the  people  are  concerned, 
is  to  be  considered  as  a  conquered  country,  and 
now  in  the  possession  of  the  conquerors.  It  is  gov 
erned  mainly  by  an  aristocracy  which  descended 
from,  and  represents,  the  generals  that  conquered 
it.  In  fact,  the  highest  honor  which  any  man  can 
claim  for  himself  or  his  family  in  England  is  to 
say  that  his  ancestors  came  in  with  the  Conqueror. 
It  is  a  sort  of  phrase." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  have  heard  it." 
"  You  must  understand,  however,"  continued 
Mr.  George,  "  that  not  all  of  the  present  aristoc 
racy  have  descended  from  the  old  generals  and 
nobles  that  came  in  with  William.  Many  of  those 
old  families  have  become  extinct,  and  their  places 
have  been  supplied  by  new  nobles  that  have 
been  created  from  time  to  time  by  selection  from 
the  men  that  have  most  distinguished  themselves 
as  generals  or  statesmen.  Still  these  men,  how 
ever  great  they  may  be,  never  rise  really  to  the 
same  level  of  rank  and  consideration  with  the 
others.  They  are  called  the  new  nobility,  and 
are  always  looked  down  upon,  more  or  less, 


152  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Power  of  the  nobility.  Results  of  the  system. 

by  the  old  families  whose  ancestors  '  came  ID 
with  the  Conqueror.'  Now,  these  nobles  and  their 
families,  with  persons  connected  with  and  depend 
ent  upon  them,  govern  the  land.  They  control 
nearly  all  the  elections  to  Parliament,  both  in  the 
Lords  and  in  the  Commons.  They  make  peace 
and  they  make  war.  They  officer  the  army  and 
the  navy.  They,  or  persons  whom  they  appoint, 
administer  the  affairs  of  the  church  and  of  the 
state,  and  expend  the  revenues,  and  they  make  the 
laws.  In  a  word,  they  govern  the  country." 

"  And  do  they  govern  it  well  ?  "  asked  Hollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  admirably  well  — 
at  least  so  far  as  preserving  order  and  protect 
ing  life  and  property  are  concerned.  I  don't  be 
lieve  that  there  are  any  where  else  in  the  world, 
or  ever  were  in  any  age,  thirty  millions  of  people 
together,  who  for  a  hundred  years  at  a  time  en 
joyed  so  much  order,  and  peace,  and  general  safe 
ty  as  has  prevailed  in  England  for  the  last 
century.  Every  thing  is  admirably  regulated 
throughout  all  the  ranks  and  departments  of  so 
ciety,  so  far  as  these  things  are  concerned." 

"  Then  it  succeeds  very  well,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Mr.  George,  "  so  far  as  efficien 
cy  in  the  government,  and  order,  safety,  and  peace 
in  the  community,  are  concerned,  the  plan  certain 
ly  succeeds  admirably  well.  But  there  is  another 


THE    ARISTOCRACY.  153 

Division  tf  fruits  of  labor.  Various  employments. 

very  important  point  in  which  it  seems  to  me  it 
does  not  succeed  at  all." 

"  What  is  that  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Why,  in  the  division  of  the  fruits  of  the  la 
bor,"  replied  Mr.  George. 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean  by  that,"  said 
Rollo. 

"Well,  I  will  explain  it,"  said  Mr.  George. 
"  If  we  suppose  that  there  are  thirty  millions  of 
people  in  Great  Britain  — 

"  Are  there  thirty  millions  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  Not  quite,  perhaps,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  but  I 
will  take  thirty  millions  for  my  calculation.  Now, 
out  of  thirty  millions  of  people,  including  men, 
women,  and  children,  of  all  ages,  there  will  be, 
according  to  the  usual  proportion,  about  ten  mil 
lions  of  men  and  women  able  to  work,  or  to  su 
perintend  work.  There  are  undoubtedly  that 
number  now  engaged  in  various  industrial  and 
useful  occupations  in  England.  Some  are  culti 
vating  the  land,  raising  wheat,  or  other  kinds  of 
food  ;  some  are  rearing  sheep  or  cattle  •  some  arc 
digging  ore  in  the  mines  of  Cornwall  or  Wales  ; 
some  are  raising  coal  and  iron  ore  from  the  im 
mense  coal  and  iron  mines  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  island  •  some  are  tending  the  mills  and  ma 
chine  shops  and  manufactories  where  such  vast 
quantities  of  goods  arc  made  ;  and  some  are  plan- 


154  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Two  different  modes  of  division. 

ning  or  superintending  these  operations,  or  are 
performing  professional  services  of  various  kinds. 
Now,  if  we  suppose  that  the  average  earnings  of 
all  these  people  would  be  a  dollar  a  day,  that 
would  make  the  amount  ten  millions  a  day  in  all, 
or  three  thousand  millions  of  dollars  a  year,  to 
be  divided,  in  some  way  or  other,  among  the  Eng 
lish  people." 

"  But  the  workmen  in  England  don't  earn  a 
dollar  a  day,  do  they  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  No,'7  said  Mr.  George  j  "  the  laborers  and 
the  operatives  do  not  earn  so  much  as  that,  or  at 
least  they  are  not  paid  so  much  ;  but  I  have  no 
doubt  but  that  the  whole  amount  produced  would 
average  that.  In  fact,  I  presume  it  would  aver 
age  more  than  that  a  great  deal,  and  that  the 
whole  amount  produced  by  the  annual  industry  of 
England  is  a  great  deal  more  than  three  thousand 
millions  of  dollars." 

"  Well,"  said  Rollo,  "  go  on." 

"  I  was  going  to  explain  to  you,  you  remember, 
how  government,  by  an  aristocracy  in  England, 
operates  in  respect  to  the  division  of  the  fruits 
of  labor  among  those  who  produce  them.  And 
the  fact  is,  that  it  operates  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
give  an  immensely  large  proportion  of  the  value 
to  the  aristocratic  classes  themselves,  and  an  ex 
ceedingly  small  portion  to  the  people  who  actu 
ally  do  the  work 


THE    ARISTOCRACY.  155 

England.  The  United  States. 

"  The  difference  is  very  great,"  continued  Mr. 
George,  "  between  England  and  the  United 
States  in  this  respect.  Go  out  into  the  country 
in  England,  or  into  the  manufacturing  districts, 
and  follow  the  people  who  do  the  work,  when  at 
night  they  go  to  their  homes,  and  see  what  sort 
of  houses  they  go  to.  They  look  picturesque  and 
pretty,  perhaps,  outside,  sometimes;  but  within 
they  are  mere  hovels.  The  man  receives  only 
enough  for  his  labor  to  feed  and  clothe  him  for 
his  work.  He  becomes,  therefore,  a  mere  beast 
of  burden,  and  his  home  is  only  a  hut  to  feed  and 
lodge  him  in. 

"  But  now  go  to  the  United  States  and  follow 
almost  any  man  whom  you  see  at  work  in  the 
fields  in  Vermont  or  New  Hampshire,  when  he 
goes  to  his  home,  and  see  what  you  will  find. 
There  will  be  a  comfortable  house,  with  several 
rooms.  There  will  be  a  little  parlor,  with  a  car 
pet  on  the  floor  and  books  on  the  table.  There 
will  be  children  coming  home  from  school,  and  a 
young  woman,  dressed  like  a  lady,  who  has  just 
finished  her  day's  work,  and  is,  perhaps,  going  in 
the  evening  into  the  village  to  attend  a  lecture. 
The  reason  of  this  difference  is,  as  I  suppose,  that 
in  England  the  laws  and  institutions,  as  the  aris 
tocracy  have  shaped  them,  are  such  as  to  give  the 
men  who  do  the  Lard  work  only  their  food  and 


156  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

A  comparison  of  the  two  countries. 

clothing  and  to  reserve  the  rest,  under  the  name 
of  rent,  or  tithes,  or  taxes,  to  themselves  and 
their  relatives  ;  whereas,  in  America,  the  laws  and 
institutions,  as  the  masses  have  shaped  them,  are 
such  as  to  give  the  men  who  do  the  work  a  very 
much  larger  share  of  the  proceeds  of  it,  so  that 
they  can  themselves  enjoy  the  comforts  and  luxu 
ries  of  life,  and  can  cultivate  their  minds  and 
educate  their  children.  Thus,  in  England,  you 
have,  on  every  considerable  tract  of  farming 
country,  villages  of  laborers,  which  consist  of 
mere  huts,  where  men  live  all  their  lives,  without 
change,  almost  as  beasts  of  burden  •  and  then, 
in  some  beautiful  park  in  the  centre,  you  have  a 
nobleman,  who  lives  in  the  highest  degree  of  lux 
ury  and  splendor,  monopolizing  as  it  were,  in  his 
one  castle  or  hall,  the  comforts  and  enjoyments 
which  have  been  earned  by  the  hundreds  of  la 
borers.  In  America,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is 
no  castle  or  hall  —  there  is  no  nobleman  ;  but  the 
profits  of  the  labor  are  retained  by  those  who 
perform  it,  and  they  are  expended  in  making  hun 
dreds  of  comfortable  and  well-provided  homes." 
While  Mr.  George  and  Hollo  had  been  hold 
ing  this  conversation,  they  had  been  walking 
along  through  St.  James's  Park  ;  and,  considering 
the  abstract  and  unentertaining  character  of  the 
subject;  Rollo  had  listened  quite  attentively  to 


THE    ARISTOCRACY.  157 

Who  are  benefited  by  an  aristocratic  government  ? 

what  his  uncle  had  said,  only  his  attention  had 
been  somewhat  distracted  once  or  twice  by  the 
gambols  of  the  beautifully  irised  ducks  that  he 
had  seen  from  time  to  time  on  the  water  as  he 
walked  along  the  margin  of  it.  The  conversa 
tion  was  now,  however,  interrupted  by  the  sound 
of  a  trumpet  which  Rollo  heard  at  a  distance, 
and  which  he  saw,  on  looking  up,  proceeded  from 
a  troop  of  horsemen  coming  out  from  the  Horse 
Guards.  Hollo  immediately  wished  to  go  that  way 
and  see  them,  and  Mr.  George  consented.  As 
they  went  along,  Mr.  George  closed  his  conver 
sation  on  the  English  aristocracy  by  saying,  — 

"  England  is  a  delightful  country  for  noble 
men,  no  doubt,  and  an  aristocratic  government 
will  always  work  very  well  indeed  for  the  inter 
ests  of  the  aristocracy  themselves  who  exercise 
it,  and  for  the  good  order  and  safety,  perhaps,  of 
the  rest  of  the  community.  A  great  many  weak 
and  empty-headed  women  who  come  out  to  Eng 
land  from  the  great  cities  in  America,  and  see 
these  grand  equipages  in  London,  think  what  a 
fine  thing  it  is  to  have  a  royal  government,  and 
wish  that  we  had  one  in  America  ;  but  this  is  al 
ways  on  the  understanding  that  they  themselves 
are  to  be  the  duchesses." 

Mr.  George  was  doubtless  substantially  correct 


158  ROLLO   IN    LONDON. 

The  reason  of  the  poverty  of  the  working  classes  explained. 

in  his  explanation  of  the  opinion  which  many 
fashionable  ladies  in  America  are  led  to  form  in 
favor  of  an  aristocratic  form  of  government  from 
what  they  see  of  the  pomp  and  parade  of  the 
English  nobility  ;  though,  in  characterizing  such 
ladies  as  weak  and  empty  headed  women,  he  was, 
to  say  the  least,  rather  severe.  In  respect  to  the 
other  question,  —  that  is,  how  far  the  immense  ine 
quality  of  the  division  of  the  annual  production 
of  the  Island  of  Great  Britain  among  the  people 
who  produce  it,  and  the  consequent  extreme  pov 
erty  of  so  large  a  portion  of  the  working  classes, 
is  owing  to  the  laws  and  institutions  which  the 
aristocracy  themselves  have  formed,  —  that  is  a 
very  grave  one.  Mr.  George  thought  that  it  was 
owing  to  those  laws  and  institutions,  and  not  tor 
any  thing  in  the  natural  or  physical  condition  of 
the  country  itself,  that  there  was  so  much  abject 
poverty  in  Great  Britain. 

"  The  soil  is  as  fertile,"  said  he  to  himself, "  the 
mines  are  as  rich,  the  machinery  is  as  effective, 
and  there  is  as  much  profitable  work  to  be  done 
in  England  as  in  America,  and  I  see  no  reason 
why  the  whole  amount  of  value  produced  in  pro 
portion  to  the  producers  should  not  be  as  great 
in  one  country  as  in  the  other.  Consequently,  if 
some  classes  obtain  more  than  their  share,  and 
others  less,  the  inequality  must  be  the  effect  of 
the  institutions  and  laws." 


A    MISFORTUNE.  159 


Hollo's  plan  for  seeing  the  illuminations. 


CHAPTER  XII 

A     M  IS  F  0  RTUNE. 

THE  queen's  birthday  proved  to  be  an  unfor 
tunate  day  for  Hollo,  for  he  met  with  quite  a 
serious  misfortune  in  the  evening  while  he  and 
Mr.  George  were  out  looking  at  the  illuminations. 
The  case  was  this  :  — 

Kollo  had  formed  a  plan  for  going  with  Mr. 
George  in  the  evening  to  the  hotel  where  his 
father  and  mother  were  lodging,  to  get  Jennie  to 
go  out  with  them  to  see  the  illuminations.  They 
had  learned  from  their  landlady  that  the  best 
place  to  see  them  was  along  a  certain  street  called 
Pall  Mall,  where  there  were  a  great  many  club 
houses  and  other  public  buildings,  which  were 
usually  illuminated  in  a  very  brilliant  manner.* 

*  These  club  houses  are  very  large  and  splendid  mansions  be 
longing  to  associations  of  gentlemen  called  clubs.  Some  of  the 
clubs  contain  more  than  a  thousand  members.  The  houses  are 
fitted  up  in  the  most  luxurious  manner,  with  reading  rooms,  libra 
ries,  dining  rooms,  apartments  for  conversation,  and  for  all  sorts 
of  games,  and  every  thing  else  requisite  to  make  them  agreeable 
places  of  resort  for  the  members.  The  annual  expenditure  in 
many  of  them  is  from  thirty  to  fifty  thousand  dollars. 


160  HOLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Air.  George  and  Rollo  go  out.  Trafalgar  JrUjusire.  fan  xviall 

It  was  after  eight  o'clock  when  Mr.  George 
and  Rollo  went  out ;  and  as  soon  as  they  came 
into  the  street  at  Trafalgar  Square,  they  saw  all 
around  them  the  indications  of  an  extraordinary 
and  general  excitement.  The  streets  were  full 
of  people  ;  and  in  every  direction,  and  at  differ 
ent  distances  from  them,  they  could  see  lights 
gleaming  in  the  air,  over  the  roofs  of  the  houses, 
or  shining  brightly  upon  the  heads  of  the  crowd 
in  the  street  below,  in  some  open  space,  or  at  some 
prominent  and  conspicuous  corner.  The  current 
seemed  to  be  setting  to  the  west,  towards  the  re 
gion  of  the  club  houses  and  palaces.  The  lights 
were  more  brilliant,  too,  in  that  direction.  So 
Hollo,  taking  hold  of  his  uncle's  hand  and  hurry 
ing  him  along,  said,  — 

"  Come,  uncle  George !  This  is  the  way !  They 
are  all  lighted  up  !  See !  " 

For  a  moment  Rollo  forgot  his  cousin  Jennie  ; 
though  the  direction  in  which  he  was  going  led, 
in  fact,  towards  the  hotel  where  she  was. 

The  sidewalk  soon  became  so  fall  that  it  was 
impossible  to  go  on  any  faster  than  the  crowd 
itself  was  advancing  ;  and  at  length,  when  Mr. 
George  and  Rollo  got  fairly  into  Pall  Mall,  and 
were  in  the  midst  of  a  great  blaze  of  illumina 
tions,  which  were  shining  with  intense  splendor 
all  around  them,  they  were  for  a  moment,  in  pass- 


A    MISFORTUNE.  161 

The  jam.  Hollo's  loss.  The  wallet  nowhere  to  be  found. 

ing  round  a  corner,  completely  wedged  up  by  the 
crowd,  so  that  they  could  scarcely  move  hand  or 
foot.  In  this  jam  Rollo  felt  a  pressure  upon  his 
side  near  the  region  of  his  pocket,  which  remind 
ed  him  of  his  purse  ;  and  it  immediately  occurred 
to  him  that  it  was  not  quite  safe  to  have  money 
about  his  person  in  such  a  crowd,  and  that  it 
would  be  better  to  give  it  to  his  uncle  George  to 
keep  for  him  until  he  should  get  home. 

So  he  put  his  hand  into  his  pantaloons  pocket 
to  take  out  his  purse  ;  but,  to  his  great  dismay,  he 
found  that  it  was  gone. 

"  Uncle  George !  "  said  he,  in  a  tone  of  great 
consternation,  "  I  have  lost  my  wallet !  " 

"  Are  you  sure  ?  "  said  Mr.  George,  quietly. 

Mr.  George  knew  very  well  that  four  times  out 
of  five,  when  people  think  they  have  lost  a  purse, 
or  a  ring,  or  a  pin,  or  any  other  valuable,  it 
proves  to  be  a  false  alarm. 

Eollo,  without  answering  his  uncle's  question, 
immediately  began  to  feel  in  all  his  other  pockets 
as  well  as  he  could  in  the  crowd  which  surrounded 
him  and  pressed  upon  him  so  closely.  His  wal 
let  was  nowhere  to  be  found. 

"  How  much  was  there  in  it  ? "  asked  Mr. 
George. 

"  Two  pounds  and  two  pennies,"  said  Rollo, 
"  and  your  due  bill  for  four  shillings." 
11 


162  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Rollo  and  Mr.  George  return  to  their  lodgings. 

"  Are  you  sure  you  did  not  leave  it  at  home  ?  n 
asked  Mr.  George. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo.  "  I  have  not  taken  it  out 
since  this  morning.  I  looked  it  over  this  morn 
ing  and  saw  all  the  money,  and  I  have  not  had  it 
out  since." 

"  Some  people  think  they  are  sure  when  they 
are  not,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  I  think  you  will 
find  it  when  you  go  home." 

Rollo  was  then  anxious  to  go  home  at  once 
and  ascertain  if  his  purse  was  there.  All  his 
interest  in  seeing  the  illumination  was  entirely 
gone.  Mr.  George  made  no  objection  to  this  j 
and  so,  turning  off  into  a  side  street  in  order  to 
escape  from  the  crowd,  they  directed  their  steps, 
somewhat  hurriedly,  towards  their  lodgings. 

"  I  know  we  shall  not  find  it  there,"  said  Rollo, 
"  for  I  am  sure  I  had  it  in  my  pocket." 

"  It  is  possible  that  we  may  find  it,"  said  Mr. 
George.  "  Boys  deceive  themselves  very  often 
about  being  sure  of  things.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  difficult  things  in  the  world  to  know  when 
we  are  sure.  You  may  have  left  it  in  your  other 
pocket,  or  put  it  in  your  trunk,  or  in  some 
drawer." 

"  No,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  am  sure  I  put  it  in  this 
pocket.  Besides,  I  think  I  felt  the  robber's  hand 
when  he  took  it.  I  felt  something  there,  at  any 


A    MISFORTUNE. 


163 


Mr.  George's  hopes. 


The  search. 


The  money  really  gone. 


rate  ;  and  that  reminded  me  of  my  purse  ;  and  1 
thought  it  would  be  best  for  me  to  give  it  to  you. 
But  when  I  went  to  feel  for  it,  it  was  gone." 

Mr.  George  had  strong  hopes,  notwithstanding 
what  Rollo  said,  that  the  purse  would  be  found 
at  home  ;  but  these  hopes  were  destined  to  be  dis 
appointed.  They  searched  every  where  when 
they  got  home  ;  but  the  purse  was  nowhere  to  be 
found.  They  looked  in  the  drawers,  in  the  pockets 
of  other  clothes,  in  the  trunk,  and  all  about  the 
rooms.  Mr.  George  was  at  length  obliged  to 
give  it  up,  and  to  admit  that  the  money  was  real 
ly  gone. 


164  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Rollo  puzzled.  His  system  of  accounts.  Accidental  expeni 


CHAPTER    XIII. 
PHILOSOPHY. 

MR.  GLORGE  and  Rollo  held  a  long  conversa 
tion  on  the  subject  of  the  lost  money  while  they 
were  at  breakfast  the  morning  after  the  robbery 
occurred,  in  the  course  of  which  Mr.  George 
taught  our  hero  a  good  deal  of  philosophy  in 
respect  to  the  proper  mode  of  bearing  such 
losses. 

Before  this  conversation,  however,  Hollo's  mind 
had  been  somewhat  exercised,  while  he  was  dress 
ing  himself  in  his  own  room,  with  the  question, 
whether  or  not  his  father  would  make  up  this  loss 
to  him,  as  one  occasioned  by  an  accident.  You 
will  recollect  that  the  arrangement  which  Mr.  Holi 
day  had  made  with  Mr.  George  was,  that  he  was  to 
pay  Rollo  a  certain  sum  for  travelling  expenses, 
and  that  Rollo  was  to  have  all  that  he  could  save 
of  this  amount  for  spending  money.  Rollo  was 
to  pay  all  his  expenses  of  every  kind  out  of  his 
allowance,  except  that,  in  case  of  any  accident, 
the  extra  expense  which  the  occurrence  of  the 


PHILOSOPHY.  165 

Rollo's  conclusion.     The  gold  watch  chain.     Mr.  George's  philosophy. 

accident  should  occasion  was  to  be  reimbursed  to 
him  by  his  father  —  or  rather  by  Mr.  George, 
on  his  farter's  account. 

Now,  while  Rollo  was  dressing  himself  on  the 
morning  after  his  loss,  the  question  arose  to  his 
mind,  whether  this  was  to  be  considered  as  an  ac 
cident  in  the  sense  referred  to  in  the  above-named 
arrangement.  He  concluded  that  Mr.  George 
thought  it  was  not. 

"Because,"  said  he  to  himself,  "if  he  had 
thought  that  this  was  a  loss  which  was  to  come 
upon  father,  and  not  upon  me,  he  would  have  told 
me  so  last  night." 

When  the  breakfast  had  been  brought  up,  and 
our  two  travellers  were  seated  at  the  table  eating 
it,  Rollo  introduced  the  conversation  by  expressing 
his  regret  that  he  had  not  bought  the  gold  watch 
chain  that  he  had  seen  in  the  Strand. 

"  How  unlucky  it  was,"  said  he,  "  that  I  did  not 
buy  that  chain,  instead  of  saving  the  money  to 
have  it  stolen  away  from  me  !  I  am  so  sorry  that 
I  did  not  buy  it !  " 

"  No/7  replied  Mr.  George,  "  you  ought  not  to 
be  sorry  at  all.  You  decided  to  postpone  buying 
it  for  good  and  sufficient  reasons  of  a  prudential 
character.  It  was  very  wise  for  you  to  decide  as 
you  did  ;  and  now  you  ought  not  to  regret  it.  To 
wish  that  you  had  been  guilty  of  an  act  of  folly, 


166  HOLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Excessive  care.  Its  effect.  How  to  meet  losses. 

in  order  to  have  saved  a  sovereign  by  it,  is  to  put 
gold  before  wisdom.  But  Solomon  says,  you 
know,  that  wisdom  is  better  than  gold  ;  yea, 
than  much^e  gold." 

Hollo  laughed. 

"  Well,"  said  Hollo,  "  at  any  rate,  I  have  learned 
one  lesson  from  it." 

"  What  lesson  is  that  ?  "  said  Mr.  George. 

"  Why,  to  be  more  careful  after  this  about  my 
money." 

"  No,"  replied  Mr.  George,  "  I  don't  think  that 
you  have  that  lesson  to  learn.  I  think  you  are 
careful  enough  now,  not  only  of  your  money,  but 
of  all  your  other  property.  Indeed,  I  think  you 
are  a  very  careful  boy  ;  and  any  greater  degree  of 
care  and  concern  than  you  usually  exercise  about 
your  things  would  be  excessive.  The  fact  is,  that 
in  all  the  pursuits  and  occupations  of  life  we 
are  exposed  to  accidents,  misfortunes,  and  losses. 
The  most  extreme  and  constant  solicitude  and  care 
will  never  prevent  such  losses,  but  will  only  pre 
vent  our  enjoying  what  we  do  not  lose.  It  is  as 
foolish,  therefore,  to  be  too  careful  as  it  is  not  to 
be  careful  enough. 

"  Indeed,"  continued  Mr.  George,  "  I  think  the 
best  way  is  for  travellers  to  do  as  merchants  do. 
They  know  that  it  is  inevitable  that  they  should 
meet  with  some  losses  in  their  business  ;  and  so 


PHILOSOPHY.  167 

The  merchants'  way.  Allowing  for  losses. 

they  make  a  regular  allowance  for  losses  in  all 
their  calculations." 

"  How  much  do  they  allow  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  I  believe  it  is  usually  about  five  per  cent.," 
said  Mr.  George.  "  They  calculate  that,  for  every 
one  hundred  dollars  that  they  trust  out  in  business, 
they  must  lose  five.  Sometimes  small  losses  come 
along  quite  frequently.  At  other  times  there 
will  be  a  long  period  without  any  loss,  and  then 
some  great  one  will  occur  j  so  that,  in  one  way 
or  the  other,  they  are  pretty  sure  in  the  long  run 
to  lose  about  their  regular  average.  So  they 
make  their  calculations  accordingly  ;  and  when 
the  losses  come  they  consider  them  matters  of 
course,  like  any  of  their  ordinary  expenses." 

"  That  is  a  good  plan,"  said  Rollo. 

"  I  think  it  is  eminently  a  good  plan,"  said  Mr. 
George,  "  for  travellers.  In  planning  a  journey, 
we  ought  always  to  include  this  item  in  our  cal 
culations.  We  ought  to  allow  so  much  for  con 
veyance,  so  much  for  hotel  bills,  and  so  much  for 
losses,  and  then  calculate  on  the  losses  just  as 
much  as  we  do  on  the  payment  of  the  railroad 
fares  and  hotel  bills.  That  is  the  philosophy  of  it. 

"  However,"  continued  Mr.  George,  "  though 
we  ought  not  to  allow  any  loss  that  we  may  meet 
with  to  make  us  anxious  or  over-careful  afterwards, 
still  we  may  sometimes  learn  something  by  it. 


168  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Mr.  George's  rules  for  keeping  valuables. 

For  instance,  I  think  it  is  generally  not  best  to 
take  a  watch,  or  money,  or  any  thing  else  of 
special  value  in  our  pockets  when  we  go  out 
among  a  crowd." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "if  I  had  only  thought  to 
have  put  my  purse  in  my  trunk  when  I  went  out,  it 
would  have  been  safe." 

"  No,"  replied  Mr.  George  ;  "  it  would  not 
have  been  safe  —  that  is,  not  perfectly  safe  —  even 
then  ;  for  a  thief  might  have  crept  into  the  house, 
and  gone  into  your  room,  and  opened  the  lock,  and 
got  out  the  money  while  you  were  away." 

"But  the  front  door  is  kept  locked,"  said 
Hollo. 

41  True,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  that  is  a  general 
rule,  I  know  ;  but  it  might  have  been  left  open  a 
few  minutes  by  accident,  so  that  the  thief  could 
get  in  —  such  things  do  happen  very  frequently  ; 
or  one  of  the  servants  of  the  house  might  have 
got  the  trunk  open.  So  that  the  money  is  not 
absolutely  safe  if  you  leave  it  in  the  trunk.  In 
fact,  I  think  that  in  all  ordinary  cases  it  is  safer 
for  me  to  carry  my  money  in  my  pocket  than  to 
leave  it  in  my  trunk  in  my  room.  It  is  only 
when  we  are  going  among  crowds  that  it  is  safer 
to  leave  it  in  our  rooms  ;  but  there  is  no  absolute 
and  perfect  safety  for  it  any  where." 

"  I  don't  see,"  said  Rollo,  "  how  they  can  pos- 


PHILOSOPHY.  169 

London  pickpockets.  Their  contrivances.  The  little  knife. 

sibly  get  the  money  out  so  from  a  deep  pocket 
without  our  knowing  it." 

"  It  is  very  strange,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  but  I 
believe  the  London  pickpockets  are  the  most  skil 
ful  in  the  world.  Sometimes  they  go  in  gangs, 
and  they  contrive  to  make  a  special  pressure  in 
the  crowd,  in  a  narrow  passage,  or  at  a  corner, 
and  then  some  of  them  jam  against  the  gentleman 
they  are  going  to  rob,  pretending  that  they  are 
jammed  by  others  behind  them,  and  thus  push 
and  squeeze  him  so  hard  on  every  side  that  he 
does  not  feel  any  little  touch  about  his  pocket ;  or, 
by  the  time  he  does  feel  and  notice  it,  the  purse 
is  gone." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  that  is  exactly  the  way  it 
was  with  me. 

"  But  there  is  one  thing  I  could  have  done," 
said  Rollo.  "  If  I  had  put  my  purse  in  my  inside 
jacket  pocket,  and  buttoned  up  the  jacket  tight, 
then  they  could  not  possibly  have  got  it." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  they  have  a  way  of 
cutting  through  the  cloth  with  the  little  sharp 
point  of  the  knife  which  they  have  in  a  ring  on 
one  of  their  fingers.  With  this  they  can  cut 
through  the  cloth  any  where  if  they  feel  a  purse 
underneath,  and  take  it  out  without  your  know 
ing  any  thing  about  it  till  you  get  home.''' 


170  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Mr.  George's  conclusion.  His  letter  to  RoIIo.  Its  contents. 

"  I  declare  !  "  said  Rollo.  "  Then  I  don't  see 
what  I  could  do." 

"  No,"  replied  Mr.  George,  "  there  is  nothing 
that  we  can  do  to  guard  absolutely  against  the 
possibility  of  losing  our  property  when  we  are 
travelling  —  or  in  any  other  case,  in  fact.  There 
is  a  certain  degree  of  risk  that  we  must  incur, 
and  various  losses  in  one  way  or  another  will 
corne.  All  we  have  to  do  is  to  exercise  the  right 
degree  of  precaution,  neither  too  much  nor  too 
little,  and  then  submit  good  naturedly  to  what- 


This  is  the  end  of  the  story  of  Hollo's  being 
robbed,  except  that,  the  next  morning  after  the 
conversation  above  described  was  held,  Rollo 
found  on  his  table,  when  he  got  up  and  began  to 
dress  himself,  a  small  package  folded  up  in  paper, 
with  a  little  note  by  the  side  of  it.  He  opened 
the  note  and  read  as  follows  :  — 

DEAR  ROLLO  :  From  the  moment  that  your  loss 
was  ascertained,  I  determined  that  I  would  refund 
the  amount  to  you,  under  the  authority  which  I 
received  from  your  father  to  pay  all  expenses 
which  you  might  incur  through  unexpected  casu 
alties.  This  robbery  I  consider  as  coming  under 


PH  i  L  os  OPH  Y. 


171 


Mr.  George  refunds  the  amount  lost. 


that  head  ;  and  so  I  refund  you  the  amount,  and 
have  charged  it  to  your  father. 

I  did  not  tell  you  what  my  design  was  in  this 
respect  at  once,  because  I  thought  I  would  see 


THE   LOSS   MADE   GOOD. 


bow  you  would  bear  the  loss  on  the  supposition 
that  it  was  to  be  your  own.  I  also  wished  to 
avail  myself  of  the  opportunity  to  teach  you  a 
little  of  the  philosophy  of  the  subject.  And  now, 


172  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  conclusion  of  Mr.  George's  note. 

inasmuch  as,  in  learning  the  lesson,  you  have 
shown  yourself  an  excellent  pupil,  and  as  you 
also  evince  a  disposition  to  bear  the  loss  like  a 
man,  there  is  no  longer  any  reason  for  postpone 
ment  ;  and  so  I  replace  the  amount  that  was  taken 
from  you  by  a  little  package  which  accompanies 
this  note. 

Your  affectionate  uncle, 

G.  H. 

On  opening  the  package,  which  was  lying  on 
the  table  by  the  side  of  his  note,  Rollo  found 
within  a  new  wallet  very  much  like  the  one  which 
he  had  lost ;  and  in  this  wallet  were  two  sover 
eigns,  two  pennies,  and  a  new  due  bill  from  hia 
uncle  George  for  four  shillings. 


THE    DOCKS.  173 


Mr.  George  proposes  to  visit  the  London  docks. 


CHAPTER    XI Y. 
THE    DOCKS. 

ONE  day  Mr.  George  told  Rollo  that  before 
leaving  London  he  wished  very  much  to  go 
and  see  the  London  docks  and  the  shipping  in 
them. 

"  Well,"  said  Rollo,  "  I'll  go.  But  what  are  the 
docks  ?  " 

It  may  seem  surprising  that  Rollo  should  be  so 
ready  to  go  and  see  the  docks  before  he  knew  at 
all  what  they  were.  The  truth  is,  what  attracted 
him  was  the  word  shipping.  Like  other  boys  of 
his  age,  he  was  always  ready  to  go,  no  matter 
where,  to  see  ships,  or  any  thing  connected  with 
shipping. 

So  he  first  said  he  was  ready  to  go  and  see  the 
docks,  and  then  he  asked  what  they  were. 

"  They  are  immense  basins,"  said  Mr.  George, 
"  excavated  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  for  ships  to 
go  into  when  they  are  loading  or  unloading." 

"  I  thought  the  ships  staid  in.  the  river,"  said 
Rollo. 


174  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Who  built  the  docks  ?    What  for  ?    Mr.  George's  interest  in  seeing  them. 

"  Part  of  them/'  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  but  not 
all.  There  is  not  room  for  all  of  them  in  the 
river  ;  at  least  there  is  not  room  for  them  at  the 
wharves,  along  the  banks  of  the  river,  to  load 
and  reload.  Accordingly,  about  fifty  years  ago, 
the  merchants  of  London  began  to  form  companies 
for  the  purpose  of  excavating  docks  for  them. 
The  place  that  they  chose  for  the  docks  was  at  a 
little  distance  from  the  river,  below  the  city. 
Their  plan  was  to  build  sheds  and  warehouses 
around  the  docks,  so  as  to  have  conveniences  for 
loading  and  unloading  their  ships  close  at  hand. 

"  And  I  want  to  go  and  see  some  of  these 
docks,"  added  he,  in  conclusion. 

"  So  do  I,"  said  Hollo.  "  Let  us  go  this  very 
day." 

Although  Eollo  was  thus  ready,  and  even 
eager,  to  go  with  his  uncle  to  see  the  docks,  the 
interest  which  he  felt  in  them  was  entirely  differ 
ent  from  that  which  his  uncle  experienced.  Mr. 
George  knew  something  about  the  construction 
of  the  works  and  the  history  of  them,  and  he 
had  a  far  more  distinct  idea  of  the  immense  com 
merce  which  centred  in  them,  and  of  the  influence  of 
this  commerce  on  the  general  welfare  of  mankind 
and  -on  the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  London,  than 
Rollo  could  be  expected  to  have.  He  accordingly 
wished  to  see  them,  in  order  to  enjoy  the  emotions 


THE    DOCKS.  175 

The  grandeur  of  the  works.  Hollo's  interest.  A  tell. 

of  grandeur  and  sublimity  which  would  be  awa 
kened  in  his  mind  by  the  thought  of  their  prodi 
gious  magnitude  as  works  of  artificial  con?truc- 
tion,  and  of  the  widely-extended  relation  they 
sustained  to  the  human  race,  by  continually  send 
ing  out  ships  to  the  remote  regions  of  the  globe, 
and  receiving  cargoes  in  return  from  every  nation 
and  every  clime. 

Hollo,  on  the  other  hand,  thought  little  of  these 
grand  ideas.  All  that  he  was  interested  in  was 
the  expectation  of  seeing  the  ships  and  the  sailors, 
and  of  amusing  himself  with  the  scenes  and  inci 
dents  which  he  hoped  to  witness  in  walking  along 
the  platforms,  and  watching  the  processes  of  load 
ing  and  unloading  the  ships,  or  of  moving  them 
from  one  place  to  another  in  the  crowded  basins. 

Rollo  was  not  disappointed,  when  he  came  to 
visit  the  docks,  in  respect  to  the  interesting  and 
amusing  incidents  that  he  expected  to  see  there. 
He  saw  a  great  many  such  incidents,  and  one 
which  occurred  was  quite  an  uncommon  one.  A 
little  girl  fell  from  the  pier  head  into  the  water. 
The  people  all  ran  to  the  spot,  expecting  that  she 
would  be  drowned ;  but,  fortunately,  the  place 
where  she  fell  in  was  near  a  flight  of  stone  steps, 
which  led  down  to  the  water.  The  people  crowded 
down  in  great  numbers  to  the  steps,  to  help  the 
child  out.  The  occurrence  took  place  just  as  the 


176 


ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 


The  little  girl  who  fell  into  the  water  at  the  docks. 

men  from  the  docks  were  going  home  to  dinner  ; 
and  so  it  happened  that  there  was  an  unusually 
large  number  of  people  near  at  the  time  of  the 
accident. 


The  place  from  which  the  child  fell  was  the  cor- 
ter  of  the  pier  head,  in  the  foreground  of  the 
picture,  where  you  see  the  post,  just  beyond  the 
Btone  steps. 


THE    DOCKS..  177 

The  docks  are  of  immense  extent.      Houses  demolished  to  make  room. 

There  is  a  boat  pulling  off  from  the  vessel  to 
the  rescue  of  the  little  girl  in  the  foreground,  to 
the  left  |  but  its  assistance  will  not  be  required. 

Now,  Rollo's  chief  interest  in  going  to  see  the 
docks  was  the  anticipation  of  witnessing  scenes 
and  incidents  of  this  and  other  kinds  ;  but  Mr. 
George  expected  to  be  most  interested  in  the 
docks  themselves. 

The  construction  of  the  docks  was  indeed  a 
work  of  immense  magnitude,  and  the  contrivers 
of  the  plan  found  that  there  were  very  great  dif 
ficulties  to  be  surmounted  before  it  could  be  car 
ried  into  effect.  It  was  necessary,  of  course, 
that  the  place  to  be  selected  should  be  pretty 
low  land,  and  near  the  river ;  for  if  the  land 
was  high,  the  work  of  excavating  the  basins 
would  have  been  so  much  increased  as  to  render 
the  undertaking  impracticable.  It  was  found  on 
examination  that  all  the  land  that  was  near  the 
river,  and  also  near  the  city,  and  that  was  in 
other  respects  suitable  for  the  purpose,  was  al 
ready  occupied  with  streets  and  houses.  These 
houses,  of  course,  had  all  to  be  bought  and  de 
molished,  and  the  materials  of  them  removed  en 
tirely  from  the  ground,  before  the  excavations 
could  be  begun. 

Then,  too,  some  very  solid  and  substantial 
barrier  was  required  to  be  constructed  between 
12 


178  HOLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  barriers.  Coffer  dams.  A  table  of  the  docks 

the  excavated  basins  made  and  the  bank  of  the 
river,  to  prevent  the  water  of  the  river  from 
bursting  in  upon  the  workmen  while  they  were 
digging.  In  such  a  case  as  this  they  make 
what  is  called  a  coffer  dam,  which  is  a  sort 
of  dam,  or  dike,  made  by  driving  piles  close 
together  into  the  ground,  in  two  rows,  at  a  little 
distance  apart,  and  then  filling  up  the  space  be 
tween  them  with  earth  and  gravel.  By  this 
means  the  water  of  the  river  can  be  kept  out  un 
til  the  digging  of  the  basins  is  completed. 

The  first  set  of  docks  that  was  made  was 
called  the  West  India  Docks.  They  were  made 
about  the  year  1800.  Yery  soon  afterwards  sev 
eral  others  were  commenced  ;  and  now  there  are 
five.  The  following  table  gives  the  names  of 
them,  with  the  number  of  acres  enclosed  within 
the  walls  of  each  :  — 


NAMES. 

West  India  Docks,        .....  295 

East  India  Docks,    .           .            .           .            .  .32 

St.  Catharine's  Docks,              ...  24 

London  Docks,         .            .            .           .            .  .90 

Commercial  Docks,      .....  49 

If  you  wish  to  form  a  definite  idea  of  the  size 
of  these  docks,  you  must  fix  your  mind  upon 
Borne  pretty  large  field  near  where  you  live,  if 
you  live  in  the  country,  and  ask  your  father,  or 


THE    DOCKS.  179 


The  docks  are  enclosed  by  high  walls,  with  gateways. 

some  other  man  that  knows,  how  many  acres  there 
are  in  it.  Then  you  can  compare  the  field  with 
some  one  or  other  of  the  docks  according  to 
the  number  of  acres  assigned  to  it  in  the  above 
table. 

If  you  live  in  the  city,  you  must  ask  the  number 
of  acres  in  some  public  square.  Boston  Common 
contains  forty-eight  acres. 

St.  Catharine's  Docks  contain  only  twenty-four 
acres  ;  and  yet  more  than  a  thousand  houses  were 
pulled  down  to  clear  away  a  place  for  them,  and 
about  eleven  thousand  persons  were  compelled  to 
remove. 

Most  of  the  docks  are  now  entirely  surrounded 
by  the  rareets  and  houses  of  the  city ;  so  that 
there  is  nothing  to  indicate  your  approach  to 
them  except  that  you  sometimes  get  glimpses  of 
the  masts  of  the  ships  rising  above  the  buildings 
at  the  end  of  a  street.  The  docks  themselves, 
and  all  the  platforms  and  warehouses  that  pertain 
to  them,  are  surrounded  by  a  very  thick  and  high 
wall ;  so  that  there  is  no  way  of  getting  in  except 
by  passing  through  great  gateways  which  are 
made  for  the  purpose  on  the  different  sides. 
These  gateways  are  closed  at  night. 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo,  when  the  time  arrived 
for  visiting  the  docks,  held  a  consultation  together 


180  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Distance  from  Mr.  George's  lodgings.     Riding  on  the  top  of  an  omnibus. 

in  respect  to  the  mode  of  going  to  them  from 
their  lodgings  at  the  West  End. 

Of  course  the  docks,  being  below  the  city,  were 
in  exactly  the  opposite  direction  from  where  they 
lived — Northumberland  Court.  The  distance 
was  three  or  four  miles. 

"  We  can  go  by  water,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  on 
the  river,  or  we  can  take  a  cab." 

"  Or  we  can  go  in  an  omnibus,"  said  Hollo. 
"  Yes,  uncle  George,"  he  added  eagerly,  "  let  us 
go  on  the  top  of  an  omnibus." 

Mr.  George  was  at  first  a  little  disinclined  to 
adopt  this  plan  ;  but  Hollo  seemed  very  earnest 
about  it,  and  finally  he  consented. 

"  We  can  get  up  very  easily,"  said  he  ;  "  and 
when  we  are  up  there  we  can  see  every  thing." 

"I  am  not  concerned  about  our  getting  up," 
said  Mr.  George.  "  The  difficulty  is  in  getting 
down." 

However,  Mr.  George  finally  consented  to 
Rollo's  proposal ;  and  so,  going  out  into  the 
Strand,  they  both  mounted  on  the  top  of  an  om 
nibus,  and  in  this  way  they  rode  down  the  Strand 
and  through  the  heart  of  London.  T}  ey  were 
obliged  to  proceed  slowly,  so  great  was  the  throng 
of  carts,  wagons,  drays,  cabs,  coaches,  and  car 
riages  that  encumbered  the  streets.  In  about  an 


THE    DOCKS.  181 

Finding  the  way.  Tickets.  The  gateway. 

hour,  however,  they  were  set  down  a  little  beyond 
the  Tower. 

"  Now,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  the  question  is^ 
whether  I  can  find  the  way  to  the  dock  gates/' 

"  Have  you  got  a  ticket  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  No/'  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  I  presume  a  ticket 
is  not  necessary." 

"  I  presume  it  is  necessary,"  said  Rollo.  "  You 
never  can  go  any  where,  or  get  into  any  thing,  in 
London,  without  a  ticket." 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  we  will  see.  At 
any  rate,  if  tickets  are  required,  there  must  be 
some  way  of  getting  them  at  the  gate." 

Mr.  George  very  soon  found  his  way  to  the 
entrance  of  the  docks.  It  was  at  the  end  of  a 
short  street,  the  name  and  position  of  which  he 
had  studied  out  on  the  map  before  leaving  home. 
He  took  care  to  be  set  down  by  the  omnibus  near 
this  street ;  and  by  this  means  he  found  his  way 
very  easily  to  his  place  of  destination. 

The  entrance  was  by  a  great  gateway.  The 
gateway  was  wide  open,  and  trains  of  carts,  and 
crowds  of  men,  —  mechanics,  laborers,  merchants, 
clerks,  and  seamen,  —  were  going  and  coming 
through  it. 

"  We  need  not  have  concerned  ourselves  about 
a  ticket,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"No,"  said  Rollo.     "I  see." 


182  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  spectacle  presented  from  the  entrance  of  the  docks. 

"  The  entrance  is  as  public  as  any  street  in 
London,"  said  Mr.  George. 

So  saying,  our  two  travellers  walked  on  and 
passed  within  the  enclosures. 

As  soon  as  they  were  fairly  in,  they  stopped  at 
the  corner  of  a  sort  of  sidewalk  and  looked 
around.  The  view  which  was  presented  to  their 
eyes  formed  a  most  extraordinary  spectacle.  For 
ests  of  masts  extended  in  every  direction.  Near 
them  rose  the  hulls  of  great  ships,  with  men  go 
ing  up  and  down  the  long  plank  stairways  which 
led  to  the  decks  of  them.  Here  and  there  were 
extended  long  platforms  bordering  the  docks, 
with  immense  piles  of  boxes,  barrels,  bales,  cotton 
and  coffee  bags,  bars  of  iron,  pigs  of  lead,  and 
every  other  species  of  merchandise  heaped  up 
upon  them.  Carts  and  drays  were  going  and 
coming,  loaded  with  goods  taken  from  these  piles  ; 
while  on  the  other  hand  the  piles  themselves  were 
receiving  continual  additions  from  the  ships, 
through  the  new  supplies  which  the  seamen  and 
laborers  were  hoisting  out  from  the  hatchways. 

Here  and  there,  too,  the  smoke  and  the  puffing 
vapor  of  a  steamer  were  seen,  and  the  clangor  of 
ponderous  machinery  was  heard,  giving  dignity, 
as  it  were,  to  the  bustle. 

"  So,  then,  these  are  the  famous  London  Docks/7 
said  Mr.  George. 


THE    DOCKS.  183 

Excavations.  Walls.  Passage  ways  for  shipping. 

"  What  a  place !  "  said  Eollo. 

"  I  had  no  idea  of  the  vast  extent  and  magni 
tude  of  the  works,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"  How  many  different  kinds  of  flags  there  arc 
at  the  masts  of  the  vessels,  uncle  George ! "  said 
Hollo.  "  Look  !  " 

"  What  a  monstrous  work  it  must  have  been," 
said  Mr.  George,  "  the  digging  out  by  hand  of 
all  these  immense  basins  !  " 

"What  did  they  do  with  the  mud?"  asked 
Rollo. 

"  They  loaded  it  into  scows,"  said  Mr.  George, 
"  and  floated  it  off,  up  or  down  the  river,  where- 
ever  there  were  any  low  places  that  required  to 
be  filled  up. 

"  When,  at  length,  the  excavations  were  fin 
ished,"  continued  Mr.  George,  "  they  began  at  the 
bottom,  and  laid  foundations  deep  and  strong,  and 
then  built  up  very  thick  and  solid  walls  all  along 
the  sides  of  the  basins,  up  to  the  level  of  the  top 
of  the  ground,  and  then  made  streets  and  quays 
along  the  margin,  and  built  the  sheds  and  ware 
houses,  and  the  work  was  done." 

"  But  then,  how  could  they  get  the  ships  in  ?  " 
asked  Rollo. 

"  Ah,  yes,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  I  forgot  about 
that.  It  was  necessary  to  have  passage  ways 


184  ROLLO    IN    LONDON 

The  drawbridges.  The  meaning  of  warping  in  a  vessel. 

leading  in  from  the  river,  with  walls  and  gates, 
and  with  drawbridges  over  them." 

"  What  do  they  want  the  drawbridges  for  ?  " 
asked  Rollo. 

"  So  that  the  people  that  are  at  work  there  can 
go  across,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  The  people  who 
live  along  the  bank  of  the  river,  between  the  ba 
sin  and  the  bank,  would  of  course  have  occasion 
to  pass  to  and  fro,  and  they  must  have  a  bridge 
across  the  outlet  of  the  docks.  But  then,  this 
bridge,  if  it  were  permanent,  would  be  in  the  way 
of  the  ships  in  passing  in  and  out  •  and  so  it  must 
be  made  a  drawbridge. 

"  Then,  besides,"  continued  Mr.  George,  "  they 
need  drawbridges  across  the  passage  ways  with 
in  the  docks  ;  for  the  workmen  have  to  go  back 
and  forth  continually,  in  prosecuting  the  work  of 
loading  and  unloading  the  ships  and  in  warping 
them  in  and  out." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo.  "  There  is  a  vessel  that 
they  are  warping  in  now." 

Rollo  understood  very  well  what  was  meant  by 
warping ;  but  as  many  of  the  readers  of  this 
book  may  live  far  from  the  sea,  or  may,  from 
other  causes,  have  not  had  opportunities  to  learn 
much  about  the  manoeuvring  of  ships,  I  ought  to 
explain  that  this  term  denotes  a  mode  of  moving 


THE    DOCKS.  185 

Manner  of  warping  a  vessel  described. 

vessels  for  short  distances  by  means  of  a  line, 
either  rope  or  cable,  which  is  fastened  at  one  end 
outside  the  ship,  and  then  is  drawn  in  at  the  other 
by  the  sailors  on  board.  When  this  operation  is 
performed  in  a  dock,  for  example,  one  end  of  the 
line  is  carried  forward  some  little  distance 
towards  the  direction  in  which  they  wish  the 
vessel  to  go,  and  is  made  fast  there  to  a  pile,  or 
ring,  or  post,  or  some  other  suitable  fixture  on  the 
quay,  or  on  board  another  vessel.  The  other  end 
of  the  line,  which  has  remained  all  the  time  on 
board  the  ship,  is  now  attached  to  the  capstan  or 
the  windlass,  and  the  line  is  drawn  in.  By  this 
means  the  vessel  is  pulled  ahead. 

Vessels  are  sometimes  warped  for  short  dis 
tances  up  a  river,  when  the  wind  and  current  are 
both  against  her,  so  that  she  cannot  proceed  in 
any  other  way.  In  this  case  the  outer  end  of  the 
line  is  often  fastened  to  a  tree. 

In  the  arctic  seas  a  ship  is  often  warped 
through  loose  ice,  or  along  narrow  and  crooked 
channels  of  open  water,  by  means  of  posts  set  in 
the  larger  and  more  solid  floes.  When  she  is 
drawn  up  pretty  near  to  one  of  these  posts,  the 
line  is  taken  off  and  carried  forward  to  another 
post,  which  the  sailors  have,  in  the  mean  time, 
been  getting  ready  upon  another  floe  farther 
ahead. 


186  ROLLO   IN   LONDON. 

The  ship  coming  up  to  the  quay. 

Warping  is,  of  course,  a  very  slow  way  of  get 
ting  along,  ani  is  only  practicable  for  short  dis 
tances,  and  is  most  frequently  employed  in  con 
fined  situations,  where  it  would  be  unsafe  to  go 
fast.  You  would  think,  too,  that  this  process 
could  only  be  resorted  to  near  a  shore,  or  a 
quay,  or  a  great  field  of  ice,  where  posts  could 
be  set  to  attach  the  lines  to  ;  but  this,  as  will 
appear  presently,  is  a  mistake. 

The  warping  which  had  attracted  Hollo's  atten 
tion  was  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  a  ship  up 
alongside  of  the  quay  at  the  place  where  she  was 
to  be  unloaded.  The  ship  had  just  come  into  the 
dock. 

"  She  has  just  come  in,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  verily  be 
lieve.  I  wish  we  had  been  here  a  little  sooner, 
so  as  to  have  seen  her  come  through  the  draw 
bridges." 

Just  at  this  instant  the  rope  leading  from  the 
ship,  which  had  been  drawn  very  tense,  was  sud 
denly  slacked  on  board  the  ship,  and  the  middle 
of  it  fell  into  the  water. 

"  What  does  that  mean  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  They  are  going  to  fasten  it  in  a  new  place,  I 
suppose,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  Yes,  there's  the 
boat." 

There  was  a  boat,  with  two  men  in  it,  just  then 
coming  up  to  the  part  of  the  quay  where  the  end 


THE    DOCKS.  187 

Haul  away !  Hollo's  supposition.  Mr.  George's  explanation. 

cf  the  line  had  been  fastened.  A  man  on  the 
quay  cast  off  the  line,  and  threw  the  end  down 
on  board  the  boat.  The  boatmen,  after  tak 
ing  it  in,  rowed  forward  to  another  place,  and 
there  fastened  it  again.  As  soon  as  they  had 
fastened  it,  they  called  out  to  the  men  on  board 
the  ship,  "  HAUL  AWAY  !  "  and  then  a  moment 
afterwards  the  middle  of  the  rope  could  be  seen 
gradually  rising  out  of  the  water  until  it  was 
drawn  straight  and  tense  as  before ;  and  then 
the  ship  began  to  move  on,  though  very  slowly, 
towards  the  place  where  they  wished  to  bring  her. 

"  That's  a  good  way  to  get  her  to  her  place," 
said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  I  don't  know  how 
seamen  could  manage  their  vessels  in  docks  and 
harbors  without  this  process  of  warping." 

"  I  suppose  they  can't  warp  any  where  but  in 
docks  and  harbors,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Why  not  ?  "  asked  Mr.  George. 

"  Because,"  replied  Rollo,  "  unless  there  was  a 
quay  or  a  shore  close  by,  they  would  not  have 
any  thing  to  fasten  the  line  to." 

Mr.  George  then  explained  to  Rollo  that  they 
could  warp  a  vessel  among  the  ice  in  the  arctic 
regions  by  fastening  the  line  to  posts  set  for  the 
purpose  :n  the  great  floes. 

"  0,  of  corrse  they  can  do  that,"  said  Rollo. 


188  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Warping  by  anchors.  The  process  described. 

"  The  ice,  in  that  case,  is  just  the  same  as  a  shore  ; 
I  mean  where  there  is  not  any  shore  at  all." 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  they  can  warp  where 
there  is  not  any  shore  at  all,  provided  that  the 
water  is  not  too  deep.  In  that  case  they  take 
a  small  anchor  in  a  boat,  and  row  forward  to  the 
length  of  the  line,  and  then  drop  the  anchor,  and 
so  warp  to  that." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  see.  I  did  not  think 
of  that  plan.  But  when  they  have  brought  the 
vessel  up  to  where  the  anchor  is,  what  do  they  do 
then?" 

"  Why,  in  the  mean  time,"  said  Mr.  George, 
"  the  sailors  in  the  boat  have  taken  another  an 
chor,  and  have  gone  forward  with  it  to  a  new 
station  ;  and  so,  when  the  ship  has  come  up  near 
enough  to  the  first  anchor,  they  shift  the  line  and 
then  proceed  to  warp  to  the  second." 

Rollo  was  much  interested  in  these  explana 
tions  ;  though,  as  most  other  boys  would  have 
been  in  his  situation,  he  was  a  little  disappointed 
to  find  himself  mistaken  in  the  opinion  which  he 
had  advanced  so  confidently,  that  warping  would 
be  impracticable  except  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  shore.  Indeed,  it  often  happens  with  boys, 
when  they  begin  to  reach  what  may  be  called  the 
reasoning  age,  that,  in  the  conversations  which 
they  hold  with  those  older  and  better  informed 


THE    DOCKS.  189 

Hollo's  argument.  His  surprise.  The  floats. 

than  themselves,  you  can  see  very  plainly  that 
their  curiosity  and  their  appetite  for  knowledge 
are  mingled  in  a  very  singular  way  with  the 
pleasure  of  maintaining  an  argument  with  their 
interlocutor,  and  of  conquering  him  in  it.  It 
was  strikingly  so  with  Kollo  on  this  occasion. 

"  Yes,"  said  he,  after  reflecting  a  moment  on 
what  his  uncle  had  said,  "  yes ;  I  see  how  they 
can  warp  by  means  of  anchors,  where  there  is  a 
bottom  which  they  can  take  hold  of  by  them  ; 
but  that  is  just  the  same  as  a  shore.  It  makes 
no  difference  whether  the  line  is  fastened  to  an 
anchor  on  the  bottom,  or  to  a  post  or  a  tree  on 
the  land.  One  thing  I  am  sure  of,  at  any  rate  ; 
and  that  is,  that  it  would  not  be  possible  for  them 
to  warp  a  ship  when  it  is  out  in  the  open  sea." 

"  It  would  certainly  seem  at  first  view  that 
they  could  not,"  replied  Mr.  George,  quietly;  "  and 
yet  they  can." 

"  How  do  they  do  it  ?  "  asked  Rollo,  much  sur 
prised. 

"  It  is  not  very  often  that  they  wish  to  do  it," 
said  Mr.  George  ;  "  but  they  can  do  it,  in  this 
way  :  They  have  a  sort  of  float,  which  is  made  in 
some  respects  on  the  principle  of  an  umbrella. 
The  sailors  take  one  or  two  of  these  floats  in  a 
boat,  with  lines  from  the  ship  attached  to  them  , 
and  after  rowing  forward  a  considerable  distance, 


190  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

How  to  warp  a  ship  at  sea. 

they  throw  them  over  into  the  water.  The  men 
at  the  capstan  then,  on  board  the  ship,  heave 
away,  and  the  lines,  in  pulling  upon  the  floats,  pull 
them  open,  and  cause  them  to  take  hold  of  the 
water  in  such  a  manner  that  the  ship  can  be  drawn 
up  towards  them.  Of  course  the  floats  do  not 
take  hold  of  the  water  enough  to  make  them  en 
tirely  immovable.  They  are  drawn  in,  in  some 
degree,  towards  the  ship  ;  but  the  ship  is  drawn 
forward  much  more  towards  them." 

"  Yes,"  said  Hollo  ;  "  I  see  that  they  might  do 
it  in  that  way.  But  I  don't  understand  why  they 
should  have  any  occasion  to  warp  a  ship  out  in 
the  open  sea." 

"  They  do  not  have  occasion  to  do  so  often," 
replied  Mr.  George.  "  I  have  been  told,  howev 
er,  that  they  resort  to  this  method  sometimes,  in 
time  of  war,  to  get  a  ship  away  from  an  enemy 
in  a  calm.  Perhaps,  too,  they  might  sometimes 
have  occasion  to  do  it  in  order  to  get  away  from 
%n  ice! erg." 


THE   EMIGRANTS.  191 


The  emigrant  ship. 


CHAPTER    XY. 
THE    EMIGRANTS. 

WHILE  this  conversation  was  going  on  Mr. 
George  and  Rollo  had  been  sauntering  slowly 
along  the  walk,  with  warehouses  on  one  side 
of  them,  and  a  roadway  for  carts  and  drays  on  the 
other,  between  the  walk  and  the  dock  ;  and  now 
all  at  once  Rollo's  attention  was  attracted  by  the 
spectacle  of  a  large  ship,  on  the  decks  of  which 
there  appeared  a  great  number  of  people  —  men, 
women,  and  children. 

"What  is  that?"  asked  Kollo,  suddenly. 
"  What  do  you  suppose  all  those  people  are  doing 
on  board  that  ship  ?  " 

"  That  must  be  an  emigrant  ship,"  said  Mr. 
George.  "  Those  are  emigrants,  I  have  no  doubt, 
going  to  America.  Let  us  go  on  board." 

"  Will  they  allow  us  to  go  ? "  asked  Hollo, 
doubtfully. 

"  0,  yes,"  said  Mr.  George ;  "  they  will  not 
know  but  that  we  are  emigrants  ourselves,  or 
the  friends  of  some  of  the  emigrants.  In  fact, 


192  BOLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Appearance  of  the  emigrants  on  deck. 

we  are  the  friends  of  some  of  the  emigrants. 
"We  are  the  friends  of  all  of  them." 

So  saying,  Mr.  George  led  the  way,  and  Rollo 
followed  up  the  plankway  which  led  to  the  deck 
of  the  ship.  Here  a  very  singular  spectacle  pre 
sented  itself  to  view.  The  decks  were  covered 
with  groups  of  people,  all  dressed  in  the  most 
quaint  and  singular  costume,  and  wearing  a  very 
foreign  air.  They  were,  in  general,  natives  of 
the  interior  provinces  of  France  and  Germany, 
and  they  were  dressed  in  accordance  with  the 
fashions  which  prevailed  in  the  places  from  which 
they  severally  came. 

The  men  were  generally  standing  or  walking 
about.  Some  were  talking  together,  others  were 
smoking  pipes,  and  others  still  were  busy  with 
their  chests  and  bundles,  rearranging  their  effects 
apparently,  so  as  to  have  easy  and  convenient  ac 
cess  to  such  as  they  should  require  for  the 
voyage.  Then  there  were  a  great  many  groups 
of  women  and  girls  seated  together  on  benches, 
trunks,  or  camp  stools,  with  little  children  play 
ing  about  near  them  on  the  deck. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  see  this/7  said  Mr.  George. 
"  I  have  very  often  witnessed  the  landing  of  the 
emigrants  in  New  York  at  the  end  of  their 
voyage  ;  and  here  I  have  the  opportunity  of  see 
ing  them  as  they  go  on  board  the  ship,  at  the  be 
ginning  of  it." 


THE    EMIGRANTS.  193 

A  queer  old  woman.  The  child.  Her  little  wagon. 

"  I  am  glad,  too,"  said  Rollo.  "  But  look  at 
that  old  woman ! " 

Rollo  pointed  as  he  said  this  to  an  aged  woman, 
whose  face,  which  was  of  the  color  of  mahogany, 
was  wrinkled  in  a  most  extraordinary  manner, 
and  who  wore  a  cap  of  very  remarkable  shape 
and  dimensions.  She  had  an  antique-looking  book 
in  her  hands,  the  contents  of  which  she  seemed 
to  be  conning  over  with  great  attention.  Mr. 
George  and  Rollo  looked  down  upon  the  pages 
of  the  book  as  they  passed,  and  saw  that  it  was 
printed  in  what  might  be  called  an  ancient  black- 
letter  type. 

"  It  is  a  German  book,"  said  Rollo,  in  a 
whisper. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  I  suppose  it  is  her 
Bible,  or  perhaps  her  Prayer  Book." 

Near  the  old  woman  was  a  child  playing  up 
on  the  deck.  Perhaps  it  was  her  grandchild. 
The  child  had  a  small  wagon,  which  she  was 
drawing  about  the  deck.  The  wagon  looked 
very  much  worn  and  soiled  by  long  usage,  but 
in  other  respects  it  resembled  very  much  the  little 
wagons  that  are  drawn  about  by  children  in 
America. 

"  It  is  just  like  one  of  our  little  wagons,"  said 
Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Mr.  George,  "  of  course  it  is  ; 
13 


194  HOLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Rollo's  invitation.  His  success.  "  Come  here." 

for  almost  all  the  little  wagons,  as  well  as  tho 
other  toys,  that  children  get  in  America,  come 
from  Germany." 

"  Ah !  "  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  did  not  think  of  that." 

"  Would  you  ask  her  to  let  me  see  her  wag 
on  ?  "  continued  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George ;  "  that  is,  if  you  can 
ask  her  in  German." 

"  Don't  you  suppose  she  knows  English  ? " 
asked  Rollo. 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  I  presume  not." 

"  I  mean  to  try  her,"  said  Rollo. 

So  he  extended  his  hand  towards  the  child  •  and 
then,  smiling  upon  her  to  denote  that  he  was  her 
friend,  and  also  to  make  what  he  said  appear  like 
an  invitation,  and  not  like  a  command,  he  pro 
nounced  very  distinctly  the  words,  "  Come  here." 

The  child  immediately  came  towards  him  with 
the  little  wagon. 

"  There  !  "  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  was  pretty  sure  that 
she  could  understand  English." 

The  child  did  not  understand  English,  howev 
er,  after  all.  And  yet  she  understood  what  Rol 
lo  said  ;  for  it  so  happens,  by  a  remarkable  co 
incidence,  that  the  German  words  for  "  come 
here,"  though  spelled  differently,  sound  almost 
precisely  like  the  English  words.  Besides,  the 
child  knew  from  Rollo's  gesture  that  he  wished 
her  to  come  to  him. 


THE    EMIGRANTS.  195 

No  progress.  The  child's  mother.  Her  husband. 

Rollo  attempted  to  talk  with  the  child,  but  he 
could  make  no  progress.  The  child  could  not 
understand  any  thing  that  he  said.  Presently  a 
very  pleasant-looking  woman  who  was  sitting  on 
a  trunk  near  by,  and  who  proved  to  be  the  child's 
mother,  shook  her  head  smilingly  at  Eollo,  and 
said,  with  a  very  foreign  accent,  pointing  at  the 
same  time  to  the  child,  "  Not  understands  Eng 
lish." 

Mr.  George  then  held  a  little  conversation 
with  this  woman  in  German.  She  told  him  that 
she  was  the  mother  of  the  child,  and  that  the  old 
woman  who  was  reading  near  was  its  grand 
mother.  She  had  a  husband,  she  said,  and  two 
other  children.  Her  husband  was  on  the  shore. 
He  had  gone  into  the  city  to  make  some  pur 
chases  for  the  voyage,  and  her  two  other  children 
had  gone  with  him  to  see  what  was  to  be  seen. 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo,  after  this,  walked  about 
the  deck  of  the  ship  for  some  time,  looking  at  the 
various  family  groups  that  were  scattered  here  and 
there,  and  holding  conversations  with  many  of 
the  people.  The  persons  whom  they  talked  with 
all  looked  up  with  an  expression  of  great  anima 
tion  and  pleasure  in  their  countenances  when  they 
learned  that  their  visitors  were  Americans,  and 
seemed  much  gratified  to  see  them.  I  suppose 
they  considered  them  very  favorable  specimens 


196 


ROLLO   IN   LONDON. 


The  sorrows  of  the  emigrants. 


of  the  people  of  the  country  which  they  were  go 
ing  to  make  their  future  home. 

I  am  sure  that  they  needed  all  the  kind  words 
and  encouraging  looks  that  Mr.  George  and  Rollo 
bestowed  upon  them  ;  for  it  is  a  very  serious  and 


PLEASANT  WEATHER. 


solemn  business  for  a  family  to  bid  a  final  fare 
well  to  their  native  land,  and  in  many  instances 
to  the  whole  circle  of  their  acquaintances  and 
friends,  in  order  to  cross  the  stormy  ocean  and 
eeek  a  home  in  what  is  to  them  an  entirely  new 
world. 


THE    EMIGRANTS.  197 

Discomforts  of  the  voyage.  Situation  of  the  passengers. 

Even  the  voyage  itself  is  greatly  to  be  dreaded 
by  them,  on  account  of  the  inevitable  discomforts 
and  dangers  of  it.  While  the  ship  is  lying  in 
the  docks,  waiting  for  the  appointed  day  of  sail 
ing  to  arrive,  they  can  pass  their  time  very  pleas 
antly,  sitting  upon  the  decks,  reading,  writing,  or 
sewing  ;  but  as  soon  as  the  voyage  has  fairly  com 
menced,  all  these  enjoyments  are  at  once  at  an 
end  ;  for  even  if  the  wind  is  fair,  and  the  water  is 
tolerably  smooth,  they  are  at  first  nearly  all  sick, 
and  are  confined  to  their  berths  below  ;  so  that, 
even  when  there  are  hundreds  of  people  on  board, 
the  deck  of  the  ship  looks  very  solitary. 

The  situation  of  the  poor  passengers,  too,  in 
their  berths  below,  is  very  uncomfortable.  They 
are  crowded  very  closely  together  ;  the  air  is 
confined  and  unwholesome  ;  and  their  food  is  of 
the  coarsest  and  plainest  description.  Then,  be 
sides,  in  every  such  a  company  there  will  always 
be  some  that  are  rude  and  noisy,  or  otherwise 
disagreeable  in  their  habits  or  demeanor  ;  and 
those  who  are  of  a  timid  and  gentle  disposition 
often  suffer  very  severely  from  the  unjust  and 
overbearing  treatment  which  they  receive  from 
tyrants  whom  they  can  neither  resist  nor  escape 
from. 

Then,  sometimes,  when  the  ship  is  in  mid  ocean, 
there  comes  on  a  storm.  A  storm  at  sea,  attack- 


198  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

A  storm.  Alarm  of  the  company.  The  winds. 

ing  an  emigrant  ship  full  of  passengers,  produces 
sometimes  a  frightful  amount  of  misery.  Many 
of  the  company  are  dreadfully  alarmed,  and  feel 
sure  that  they  will  all  certainly  go  to  the  bottom. 


THE    STOHM. 


Their  terror  is  increased  by  the  tremendous  roar 
of  the  winds,  and  by  the  thundering  thumps  and 
concussions  which  the  ship  encounters  from  the 
waves. 


THE    EMIGRANTS.  199 

A  squall.  The  passengers  in  the  dark.  Getting  the  food. 

The  consternation  is  increased  when  the  gale 
comes  on  suddenly  in  a  squall,  so  that  there  is 
not  time  to  take  the  sails  in  in  season.  In  such  a 
case  the  sails  are  often  blown  away  or  torn  into 
pieces — the  remnants  of  them,  and  the  ends  of  the 
rigging,  flapping  in  the  wind  with  a  sound  louder 
than  thunder. 

Of  course,  during  the  continuance  of  such  a 
storm,  the  passengers  are  all  confined  closely  be 
low  ;  for  the  seas  and  the  spray  sweep  over  the 
decks  at  such  times  with  so  much  violence  that 
even  the  sailors  can  scarcely  remain  there.  Then 
it  is  almost  entirely  dark  where  the  passengers 
have  to  stay  •  for  in  such  a  storm  the  deadlights 
must  all  be  put  in,  and  the  hatches  shut  down  and 
covered,  to  keep  out  the  sea.  Notwithstanding 
all  the  precautions,  however,  that  can  possibly  be 
taken,  the  seas  will  find  their  way  in,  and  the 
decks,  and  the  berths,  and  the  beds  become  drip 
ping  wet  and  very  uncomfortable. 

Then,  again,  the  violent  motion  of  a  ship  in  a 
Btorm  makes  almost  every  body  sick  ;  and  this  is 
another  trouble.  It  is  very  difficult,  too,  at  such 
times,  for  so  large  a  company  to  get  their  food. 
They  cannot  go  to  get  it ;  for  they  cannot  walk,  or 
even  stand,  on  account  of  the  pitching  and  toss- 
gig  of  the  ship  ;  and  it  is  equally  difficult  to 
bring  it  to  them.  The  poor  children  are  always 


ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Diseases.  The  sick  Their  misery. 

greatly  neglected  ;  and  the  mournful  and  weari 
some  sound  of  their  incessant  fretting  and  crying 
adds  very  much  to  the  general  discomfort  and 
misery. 

It  often  happens,  moreover,  that  dreadful  dis 
eases  of  an  infectious  and  malignant  character 
break  out  on  board  these  crowded  ships,  and  mul 
titudes  sicken  and  die.  Of  course,  under  such 
circumstances,  the  sick  can  receive  very  few  of 
the  attentions  that  sick  persons  require,  especially 
when  the  weather  is  stormy,  and  their  friends 
and  fellow-passengers,  who  would  have  been  glad 
to  have  assisted  them,  are  disabled  themselves. 
Then,  in  their  dejection  and  misery,  their  thoughts 
revert  to  the  homes  they  have  left.  They  forget 
all  the  sorrows  and  trials  which  they  endured 
there,  and  by  the  pressure  of  which  they  were 
driven  to  the  determination  to  leave  their  native 
land  ;  and  now  they  mourn  bitterly  that  they  were 
induced  to  take  a  step  which  is  to  end  so  disas 
trously.  They  think  that  they  would  give  all 
that  they  possess  to  be  once  more  restored  to 
their  former  homes. 

Thus,  during  the  prevalence  of  a  storm,  the  em 
igrant  ship  is  filled  sometimes  with  every  species 
of  suffering.  There  is,  however,  comparatively 
very  little  actual  danger,  for  the  ships  are  very 
Strong,  being  built  expressly  for  the  purpose  of 


THE    EMIGRANTS. 


201 


Strength  of  the  emigrant  ships. 


resisting  the  severest  bufferings  of  the  waves  ;  and 
generally,  if  there  is  sea  room  enough,  they  ride 
out  these  gales  in  safety.  Then,  after  repairing 
the  damages  which  their  spars  and  rigging  may 


THE  WRECK. 


have  sustained,  they  resume  their  voyage.  If, 
however,  there  is  not  sea  room  enough  for  the 
ship  when  she  is  tf^us  caught,  —  that  is,  if  the 
Btorm  comes  on  when  she  is  in  such  a  position  that 


202  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  danger.  Driven  on  shore.  The  wreck. 

the  wind  drives  her  towards  rocks,  or  shoals,  or 
to  a  line  of  coast,  —  her  situation  becomes  one  of 
great  peril.  In  such  cases  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  save  her  from  being  driven  upon  the  rocks  or 
sands,  and  there  being  broken  up  and  beaten  to 
pieces  by  the  waves. 

When  driven  thus  upon  a  shore,  the  ship  usu 
ally  strikes  at  such  a  distance  from  it  as  to  make 
it  impossible  for  the  passengers  to  reach  the  land. 
Nor  can  they  long  continue  to  live  on  board  the 
ship  ;  for,  as  she  strikes  the  sand  or  rocks  upon 
the  bottom,  the  waves,  which  continue  to  roll  in 
in  tremendous  surges  from  the  offing,  knock  her 
over  upon  her  side,  break  in  upon  her  decks,  and 
drench  her  completely  in  every  part,  above  and 
below.  Those  of  the  passengers  who  attempt  to 
remain  below,  or  who  from  any  cause  cannot  get 
up  the  stairways,  are  speedily  drowned  ;  while 
those  who  reach  the  deck  are  almost  all  soon 
washed  off  into  the  sea.  Some  lash  themselves 
to  the  bulwarks  or  to  the  masts,  and  some  climb 
into  the  rigging  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  the  seas, 
if,  indeed,  any  of  the  rigging  remains  standing  ; 
and  then,  at  length,  when  the  sea  subsides  a  little, 
people  put  off  in  surf  boats  from  the  shore,  to 
rescue  them.  In  this  way,  usually,  a  considerable 
number  are  saved. 

These  and  other  dreadful  dangers  attend  the 


THE    EMIGRANTS.  203 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo  continue  their  walk. 

companies  of  emigrants  in  their  attempts  to  cross 
the  wide  and  stormy  Atlantic.  Still  the  pros 
pect  for  themselves  and  their  children  of  living 
in  peace  and  plenty  in  the  new  world  prompts 
them  to  come  every  year  in  immense  numbers. 
About  eight  hundred  such  shiploads  as  that  which 
Rollo  and  Mr.  George  saw  in  the  London  Docks 
arrive  in  New  York  alone  every  year.  This  makes, 
on  an  average,  about  fifteen  ships  to  arrive  there 
every  week.  It  is  only  a  very  small  proportion 
indeed  of  the  number  that  sail  that  are  wrecked 
on  the  passage. 

But  to  return  to  Mr.  George  and  Hollo. 

After  remaining  on  board  the  emigrant  ship 
until  their  curiosity  was  satisfied,  our  travellers 
went  down  the  plank  again  to  the  quay,  and  con 
tinued  their  walk.  The  next  thing  that  attracted 
Hollo's  attention  was  a  great  crane,  which  stood 
on  the  quay,  near  a  ship,  a  short  distance  before 
them. 

"  Ah !  "  said  Rollo  ;  "  here  is  a  great  crane. 
Let  us  go  and  see  what  they  are  hoisting. " 

So  Rollo  hastened  forward,  Mr.  George  fol 
lowing  him,  until  they  came  to  the  crane.  Four 
workmen  were  employed  at  it,  in  turning  the 
wheels  by  means  of  two  great  iron  cranks.  They 
were  hoisting  a  very  heavy  block  of  white  marblo 
out  of  the  vessel. 


204  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  dinner  bell.  Twelve  o'clock.  Dining  in  the  yard. 

While  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  were  looking 
at  the  crane,  a  bell  began  to  ring  in  a  little 
steeple  near  by ;  and  all  the  men  in  every  part  of 
the  quay  and  in  all  the  sheds  and  warehouses  im 
mediately  stopped  working,  put  on  their  jackets, 
and  began  walking  away  in  throngs  towards  the 
gates. 

"  Ah !  "  said  Mr.  George,  in  a  tone  of  disap 
pointment,  "  we  have  got  here  at  twelve  o'clock. 
That  was  just  what  I  wished  to  avoid." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  they  are  all  going  home 
to  dinner." 

Rollo,  however,  soon  found  that  all  the  men 
were  not  going  home  to  dinner,  for  great  numbers 
of  them  began  to  make  preparations  for  dining 
in  the  yard.  They  began  to  establish  themselves 
in  little  groups,  three  or  four  together,  in  nooks 
and  corners,  under  the  sheds,  wherever  they  could 
find  the  most  convenient  arrangement  of  boxes 
and  bales  to  serve  for  chairs  and  tables.  When 
established  in  these  places,  they  proceeded  to  open 
the  stores  which  they  had  provided  for  their  din 
ners,  the  said  stores  being  contained  in  sundry 
baskets,  pails,  and  cans,  which  had  been  concealed 
all  the  morning  in  various  hiding-places  among 
the  piles  of  merchandise,  and  were  now  brought 
forth  to  furnish  the  owners  with  their  midday 
meal. 


THE    EMIGRANTS.  205 

Convenient  way  of  getting  a  drink. 

One  of  these  parties,  Hollo  found,  had  a  very 
convenient  way  of  getting  ale  to  drink  with  their 
dinner.  There  was  a  row  of  barrels  lying  on 
the  quay  near  where  they  had  established 
themselves  to  dine  ;  and  two  of  the  party  went 
to  one  of  these  barrels,  and,  starting  out  the 
bung,  they  helped  themselves  to  as  much  ale 
as  they  required.  They  got  the  ale  out  of  the 
barrel  by  means  of  a  long  and  narrow  glass, 
with  a  string  around  the  neck  of  it,  and  a  very 
thick  and  heavy  bottom.  This  glass  they  let 
down  through  the  bunghole  into  the  barrel,  and 
then  drew  up  the  ale  with  it  as  you  would  draw 
up  water  with  a  bucket  from  a  well. 

Rollo  amused  himself  as  he  walked  along  ob 
serving  these  various  dinner  parties,  wondering, 
too,  all  the  time,  at  the  throngs  of  men  that  were 
pouring  along  through  all  the  spaces  and  passage 
ways  that  led  towards  the  gate.* 

"  I  did  not  know  that  there  were  so  many  men 
at  work  here,"  said  he. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  When  business  is 
brisk,  there  are  about  three  thousand  at  work 
here." 


*  It  was  while  these  workmen  were  going  out  in  this  way  from 
the  yard  that  the  incident  of  the  little  girl  falling  into  the  dock 
occurred,  as  has  been  already  related. 


206  HOLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Mr.  George  reads  from  the  guide  book. 

"  How  did  you  know  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  I  read  it  in  the  guide  book/7  said  Mr.  George. 

Here  Mr.  George  took  his  guide  book  out  of 
his  pocket,  and  began  to  read  from  it,  as  he 
walked  along,  the  following  description  :  — 

"  '  As  you  enter  the  dock,  the  sight  of  the  forest 
of  masts  in  the  distance,  and  the  tall  chimneys 
vomiting  clouds  of  black  smoke,  and  the  many- 
colored  flags  flying  in  the  air,  has  a  most  peculiar 
effect ;  while  the  sheds,  with  the  monster  wheels 
arching  through  the  roofs,  look  like  the  paddle 
boxes  of  huge  steamers.' " 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  that  is  exactly  the  way 
it  looks." 

"  '  Along  the  quay/  "  continued  Mr.  George,  still 
reading,  "  '  you  see,  now  men  with  their  faces  blue 
with  indigo  •  and  now  gangers,  with  their  long, 
brass-tipped  rules  dripping  with  spirit  from  the 
cask  they  have  been  probing  ;  then  will  come 
a  group  of  flaxen-haired  sailors,  chattering  Ger 
man  ;  and  next  a  black  sailor,  with  a  cotton 
handkerchief  twisted  turban-like  around  his  head  ; 
presently  a  blue-smocked  butcher,  with  fresh 
meat  and  a  bunch  of  cabbages  in  a  tray  on  his 
shoulder  ;  and  shortly  afterwards  a  mate,  with 
green  paroquets  in  a  wooden  cage.  Here  you 
will  see,  sitting  on  a  bench,  a  sorrowful-looking 
woman,  with  new,  bright  cooking  tins  at  her  feet, 


THE    EMIGRANTS.  207 

The  atmosphere.  The  warehouse.  Dark  vaults. 

telling  you  she  is  an  emigrant  preparing  for  her 
voyage.  As  you  pass  along  the  quay  the  air  is 
pungent  with  tobacco,  or  it  overpowers  you  with 
the  fumes  of  rum  ;  then  you  are  nearly  sickened 
with  the  smell  arising  from  heaps  of  hides  and 
huge  bins  of  horns  ;  and  shortly  afterwards  the 
atmosphere  is  fragrant  with  coffee  and  spice. 
Nearly  every  where  you  meet  stacks  of  cork,  or 
yellow  bins  of  sulphur,  or  lead-colored  copper 
ore/  " 

"  It  is  an  excellent  description,"  said  Rollo, 
when  Mr.  George  paused. 

Mr.  George  resumed  his  reading  as  fol 
lows  :  — 

"  '  As  you  enter  this  warehouse  the  flooring  is 
sticky,  as  if  it  had  been  newly  tarred,  with  the 
sugar  that  has  leaked  through  the  casks ' ' 

"  We  won't  go  there,"  said  Rollo,  interrupting. 

"  '  And  as  you  descend  into  these  dark  vaults/  " 
continued  Mr.  George,  " '  you  see  long  lines  of 
lights  hanging  from  the  black  arches,  and  lamps 
flitting  about  midway.' " 

"  I  should  like  to  go  there,"  said  Rollo. 

" '  Here  you  sniff  the  fumes  of  the  wine/  "  con 
tinued  Mr.  George,  " '  and  there  the  peculiar  fun 
gous  smell  of  dry  rot.  Then  the  jumble  of 
sounds,  as  you  pass  along  the  dock,  blends  in  any 
thing  but  sweet  concord.  The  sailors  are  singing 


208  ROLLO    IN   LONDON. 

A  jumble  of  sounds.  The  number  of  hands. 

boisterous  Ethiopian  songs  from  the  Yankee  ship 
just  entering  •  the  cooper  is  hammering  at  the 
casks  on  the  quay ;  the  chains  of  the  cranes, 
loosed  of  their  weight,  rattle  as  they  fly  up  again  ; 
the  ropes  splash  in  the  water ;  some  captain 
shouts  his  orders  through  his  hands  ;  a  goat 
bleats  from  some  ship  in  the  basin ;  and  empty 
casks  roll  along  the  stones  with  a  hollow,  drum- 
like  sound.  Here  the  heavy-laden  ships  are  down 
far  below  the  quay,  and  you  descend  to  them  by 
ladders  ;  whilst  in  another  basin  they  are  high  up 
out  of  the  water,  so  that  their  green  copper 
sheathing  is  almost  level  with  the  eye  of  the  pas 
senger  ;  while  above  his  head  a  long  line  of  bow 
sprits  stretch  far  over  the  quay,  and  from  them 
hang  spars  and  planks  as  a  gangway  to  each  ship. 
This  immense  establishment  is  worked  by  from 
one  to  three  thousand  hands,  according  as  the  busi 
ness  is  either  brisk  or  slack.7 " 

Here  Mr.  George  shut  the  book  and  put  it  in 
his  pocket. 

"  It  is  a  very  excellent  account  of  it  altogether," 
said  Rollo. 

"  I  think  so  too,"  said  Mr.  George. 

As  our  travellers  walked  slowly  along  after 
this,  their  attention  was  continually  attracted  to 
one  object  of  interest  after  another,  each  of  which, 


THE    EMIGRANTS.  209 

Buck  horns.  Knife  handles  for  all  creation.  Mahogany  logs. 

after  leading  to  a  brief  conversation  between 
them,  gave  way  to  the  next.  The  talk  was  ac 
cordingly  somewhat  on  this  wise  :  — 

"  0  uncle  George  ! "  said  Hollo  ;  "  look  at  that 
monstrous  pile  of  buck  horns  1 " 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  it  is  a  monstrous 
pile  indeed.  They  must  be  for  knife  handles." 

"  What  a  quantity  of  them !  "  said  Rollo.  "  I 
should  think  that  there  would  be  knife  handles 
enough  in  the  pile  for  all  creation.  Where  can 
they  get  so  many  horns  ?  " 

"  I  am  sure  I  don't  know/7  said  Mr.  George. 

So  they  walked  on. 

Presently  they  came  to  an  immense  heap  of 
bags  of  coffee.  They  knew  that  the  bags  con 
tained  coffee  by  the  kernels  that  were  spread 
about  them  all  over  the  ground.  Then  they 
passed  by  long  rows  of  barrels,  which  seemed  to 
be  filled  with  sugar.  Mr.  George  walked  by  the 
side  of  the  barrels,  but  Rollo  jumped  up  and  ran 
along  on  the  top  of  them.  Then  came  casks  of  to 
bacco,  and  next  bars  of  iron  and  steel,  and  then 
some  monstrous  square  logs  of  mahogany. 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo  walked  on  in  this  man 
ner  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  at  length  they 
came  to  one  of  the  drawbridges.  This  draw 
bridge  led  over  a  passage  way  which  formed  a 
communication  from  one  basin  of  the  dock  to 
14 


210  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Mr.  George  and  Hollo  wait  to  see  the  drawbridge. 

another.  It  was  a  very  long  and  slender  bridge 
of  iron,  made  to  turn  on  a  pivot  at  one  end. 
There  was  some  machinery  connected  with  it  to 
work  it. 

"  I  wish  they  would  come  and  turn  this  draw 
bridge  away,"  said  Rollo.  "  I  want  to  see  how 
it  works." 

"Perhaps  they  will  after  dinner,"  said  Mr. 
George. 

"  Let  us  sit  down,  then,  here  somewhere,"  said 
Rollo,  "  and  wait." 

So  Mr.  George  and  Rollo,  after  crossing  tl^e 
drawbridge,  sat  down  upon  some  of  the  fixtures 
connected  with  the  machinery  of  the  bridge. 

From  the  place  where  they  sat  they  had  a  good 
view  of  the  whole  interior  of  the  dock.  They 
could  see  the  shipping,  the  warehouses,  the  forests 
of  masts,  the  piles  of  merchandise,  and  the  innu 
merable  flags  and  signals  which  were  flying  at 
the  mast  heads  of  the  vessels. 

"  It  is  a  wonderful  place,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  but 
I  don't  understand  how  they  do  the  business 
here.  Whom  do  all  these  goods  belong  to  ?  and 
how  do  they  sell  them  ?  We  have  not  seen  any 
body  here  that  looks  as  if  he  was  buying  any 
thing." 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  The  merchants  don't 
come  here  to  buy  the  goods.  They  buy  them  by 


THE    EMIGRANTS.  211 

How  merchants  buy  their  goods. 

samples  in  the  city.  I  will  explain  to  you  how 
they  manage  the  business.  The  merchants  who 
own  ships  send  them  to  various  parts  of  the 
world  to  buy  what  grows  in  the  different  coun 
tries  and  bring  it  here.  We  will  take  a  particu 
lar  case.  Suppose  it  is  coffee,  for  instance.  The 
merchant  never  sees  the  coffee  himself,  perhaps. 
The  captain  or  the  supercargo  reports  to  him  how 
much  there  is,  and  he  orders  it  to  be  stored  in  the 
warehouses  here.  Then  he  puts  it  into  the  hands 
of  an  agent  to  sell.  His  agent  is  called  a  broker. 
There  are  inspectors  in  the  docks,  whose  business 
it  is  to  examine  the  coffee  and  send  specimens  of 
it  to  the  broker's  office  in  the  city.  It  is  the  same 
with  all  the  other  shiploads  that  come  in.  They 
are  examined  by  inspectors,  specimens  are  taken 
out  and  sent  to  the  city,  and  the  goods  themselves 
are  stored  in  the  warehouses. 

"  Now,  we  will  suppose  a  person  wishes  to  buy 
some  of  these  goods  to  make  up  a  cargo.  Per 
haps  it  is  a  man  who  is  going  to  send  a  ship 
to  Africa  after  elephants'  tusks,  and  he  wants 
a  great  variety  of  goods  to  send  there  to 
pay  the  natives  for  them.  He  wants  them  in 
large  quantities,  too,  enough  to  make  a  cargo. 
So  he  makes  out  a  list  of  the  articles  that  he 
wishes  to  send,  and  marks  the  quantities  of  each 
that  he  will  require,  and  gives  the  list  to  the 


212  HOLLO   IN   LONDON. 

The  agent.  Receipts.  The  merchant's  office. 

agent.  This  agent  is  a  man  who  is  well  acquaint 
ed  with  the  docks  and  the  brokers,  and  knowa 
where  they  keep  the  specimens.  He  buys  the 
articles  and  sends  them  all  on  board  the  ship 
that  is  going  to  Africa,  which  is  perhaps  all  this 
time  lying  close  at  hand  in  the  docks,  ready  to 
receive  them.  As  fast  as  the  goods  are  delivered 
on  board  the  African  ship,  the  captain  of  it  gives 
the  agent  a  receipt  for  them,  and  the  latter,  when 
he  has  got  all  the  receipts,  sends  them  to  the 
merchant ;  and  so  the  merchant  knows  that  the 
goods  are  all  on  board,  without  ever  having  seen 
any  of  them." 

"  And  then  he  pays  the  agent,  I  suppose,  for  his 
trouble,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Of  course,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  but  this  is 
better  than  for  him  to  attempt  to  do  the  business 
himself;  for  the  agent  is  so  familiar  with  the 
docks,  and  with  every  thing  pertaining  to  them, 
that  he  can  do  it  a  great  deal  better  than  the 
merchant  could,  in  half  the  time." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  should  think  he  could." 

"  Then  it  makes  the  business  very  easy  and 
pleasant  for  the  merchant,  I  suppose,"  said  Mr. 
George.  "  All  that  he  requires  is  a  small  office 
and  a  few  clerks.  He  sits  down  at  his  desk  and 
considers  where  he  will  send  his  ship,  when  he 
has  one  ready  for  sea,  and  what  cargo  he  will 


THE   EMIGRANTS.  213 

Mr.  George  and  Hollo  return  home. 

send  in  her  ;  and  then  there  is  nothing  for  him  to 
do  about  it  but  to  make  out  an  inventory  of  the 
articles  and  send  it  to  the  agent  at  the  docks, 
and  the  business  is  all  done  very  regularly  for 
him. 

"  Only,"  continued  Mr.  George,  "  it  is  very 
necessary  that  he  should  know  how  to  plan  his 
voyages  so  as  to  make  them  come  out  well,  with 
a  good  profit  at  the  end,  otherwise  he  will  soon 
go  to  ruin." 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo  sat  near  the  drawbridge 
talking  in  this  manner  for  about  half  an  hour. 
Then  the  men  began  to  return  from  their  dinner  ; 
and  very  soon  afterwards  the  quays,  and  slips, 
and  warehouses  were  all  alive  again  with  business 
and  bustle.  They  then  rose  and  began  rambling 
about  here  and  there,  to  watch  the  various  opera 
tions  that  were  going  on.  They  saw  during  this 
ramble  a  great  many  curious  and  wonderful 
things,  too  numerous  to  be  specified  here.  They 
remained  in  the  docks  for  more  than  two  hours, 
and  then  went  home  by  one  of  the  little  steamers 
on  the  river. 


214  HOLLO    IN   LONDON. 

The  Tower  cf  London.  Its  appearance. 


CHAPTER  XYI. 
THE  TOWER  AND  THE  TUNNEL. 

THE  famous  Tunnel  under  the  Thames,  and  the 
still  more  famous  Tower  of  London,  are  very 
near  together,  and  strangers  usually  visit  both  on 
one  and  the  same  excursion. 

The  Tower,  as  has  already  been  explained,  was 
originally  a  sort  of  fortress,  or  castle,  built  on 
the  bank  of  the  river,  below  the  city,  to  defend  it 
from  any  enemy  that  might  attempt  to  come  up 
to  it  by  ships  from  the  sea.  The  space  enclosed 
by  the  walls  was  very  large  ;  and  as  in  modern 
times  many  new  buildings  and  ranges  of  buildings 
have  been  erected  within,  with  streets  and  courts 
between  them,  the  place  has  now  the  appearance 
of  being  a  little  town  enclosed  by  walls,  and  sur 
rounded  by  a  ditch  with  bridges,  and  standing 
in  the  midst  of  a  large  town. 

Rollo  and  Mr.  George  passed  over  the  ditch 
that  surrounded  the  Tower  by  means  of  a  draw 
bridge.  Before  they  entered  the  gateway,  how 
ever,  they  were  conducted  to  a  small  building 


THE    TOWER.  215 

Refreshment  room.  Luncheon.  Yeomen  of  the  Guard. 

which  stood  near  it,  where  they  obtained  a  ticket 
to  view  the  Tower,  and  where,  .also,  they  were 
required  to  leave  their  umbrella.  This  room  was 
a  sort  of  refreshment  room  ;  and  as  they  were 
told  that  they  must  wait  here  a  few  minutes  till 
a  party  was  formed,  they  occupied  the  time  by 
taking  a  luncheon.  Their  luncheon  consisted  of 
a  ham  and  veal  pie,  and  a  good  drink  for  each 
of  ginger  beer. 

At  length,  several  other  people  having  come 
in,  a  portly-looking  man,  dressed  in  a  very  gay 
uniform,  and  wearing  on  his  head  a  black  velvet 
hat  adorned  with  a  sort  of  wreath  made  of  blue 
and  white  ribbons,  took  them  in  charge  to  lead 
them  about  the  Tower. 

This  man  belonged  to  a  body  that  is  called  the 
Yeomen  of  the  Guard.  The  dress  which  he  wore 
was  their  uniform.  He  wore  various  badges  and 
decorations  besides  his  uniform.  One  of  them 
was  a  medal  that  was  given  to  him  in  honor  of  his 
having  been  a  soldier  at  the  battle  of  Waterloo. 

Under  the  charge  of  this  guide,  the  party, 
which  consisted  now  of  eight  or  ten  persons,  be 
gan  to  make  the  tour.  They  passed  through  va 
rious  little  courts  and  streets,  which  were  some 
times  bordered  by  ranges  of  buildings,  and  some 
times  by  castellated  walls,  with  sentinels  on  duty, 
marching  slowly  back  and  forth  along  the  jmr- 
apet. 


216  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

A  splendid  spectacle.        The  kings  of  England.        Military  fashions. 

At  length  their  gay-looking  guide  led  the  par 
ty  through  a  door  which  opened  into  a  very  long 
and  narrow  hall,  on  one  side  of  which  there  was 
arranged  a  row  of  effigies  of  horses,  splendidly 
caparisoned,  and  mounted  with  the  figures  of  the 
kings  of  England  upon  them  in  polished  ar 
mor  of  steel.  The  gay  trappings  of  the  horses, 
and  the  glittering  splendor  of  the  breast 
plates,  and  greaves,  and  helmets,  and  swords 
of  the  men,  gave  to  the  whole  spectacle  a  very 
splendid  effect.  The  guide  walked  along  slowly 
in  front  of  this  row  of  effigies,  informing  the 
party  as  he  went  along  of  the  names  of  the  va 
rious  monarchs  who  were  represented,  and  de 
scribing  the  kind  of  armor  which  they  severally 
wore. 

The  armor,  of  course,  varied  very  much  in  its 
character  and  fashion,  according  to  the  age  in 
which  the  monarch  who  wore  it  lived  ;  and  it  was 
very  interesting,. in  walking  down  the  hall,  to  see 
how  military  fashions  had  changed  from  century 
to  century,  as  shown  by  the  successive  changes  in 
the  accoutrements  which  were  observed  in  passing 
along  the  line  of  kings. 

There  were  many  suits  of  armor  that  were 
quite  small,  having  been  made  for  the  English 
princes  when  they  were  boys.  Rollo  amused  him 
self  by  imagining  how  he  should  look  in  one  of 


THE    TOWER.  217 

Hollo's  wish.  The  little  battery.  Uncouth  weapons. 

these  suits  of  armor,  and  he  wished  very  much  thai 
he  could  have  an  opportunity  of  trying  them  on. 
In  one  place  there  was  a  battery  of  nine  beautiful 
little  cannons  made  of  brass,  each  about  two  feet 
long,  and  just  about  large  enough  in  caliber  for 
a  boy  to  fire.  These  cannons,  which  were  all 
beautifully  ornamented  with  bass  reliefs  on  the 
outside,  and  were  mounted  on  splendid  little  car 
riages,  were  presented  to  Charles  II.  when  he 
was  a  boy  ;  and  I  suppose  that  he  and  his  play 
mates  often  fired  them.  There  were  a  great  many 
other  strange  and  curious  implements  of  war  that 
have  now  gone  wholly  out  of  fashion.  There 
were  all  kinds  of  matchlocks,  and  guns,  and  pis 
tols,  of  the  most  uncouth  and  curious  shapes ; 
and  shot  of  every  kind  —  chain  shot,  and  grape 
shot,  and  saw  shot ;  and  there  were  bows  and  ar 
rows,  and  swords  and  halberds,  and  spears  and 
cutlasses,  and  every  other  kind  of  weapon.  These 
arms  were  arranged  on  the  walls  in  magnificent 
great  stars,  or  were  stacked  up  in  various  orna 
mental  forms  about  pillars  or  under  arches  ;  and 
they  were  so  numerous  that  Hollo  could  not  stop 
to  look  at  half  of  them. 

After  this  the  yeoman  of  the  guard  led  his  party 
to  a  great  many  other  curious  places.  He  showed 
them  the  room  where  the  crowns  and  sceptres 
of  the  English  kings  and  queens,  and  all  the  great 


218  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

The  royal  treasures.  The  dungeons.  The  Tunnel. 

diamonds  and  jewels  of  state,  were  kept.  These 
treasures  were  placed  on  a  stand  in  an  immense 
iron  cage,  so  that  people  assembled  in  the  room 
around  the  cage  could  look  in  and  see  the  things, 
but  they  could  not  reach  them  to  touch  them. 

They  were  also  taken  .to  see  various  prison 
rooms  and  dungeons  where  state  prisoners  were 
kept ;  and  also  blocks  and  axes,  the  implements 
by  which  several  great  prisoners  celebrated  in 
history  had  been  beheaded.  They  saw  in  partic 
ular  the  block  and  the  axe  which  were  used  at 
the  execution  of  Anne  Boleyn  and  of  Lady  Jane 
Grey  ;  and  all  the  party  looked  very  earnestly 
at  the  marks  which  the  edge  of  the  axe  had  made 
in  the  wood  when  the  blows  were  given. 

The  party  walked  about  in  the  various  build 
ings,  and  courts,  and  streets  of  the  Tower  for 
nearly  two  hours  •  and  then,  bidding  the  yeoman 
good  by,  they  all  went  away. 

"  Now,"  said  Rollo,  as  soon  as  they  had  got  out 
of  the  gate,  "  which  is  the  way  to  the  Tunnel  ?  " 

The  Tunnel  is  a  subterranean  passage  under 
the  Thames,  made  at  a  place  where  it  was  impos 
sible  to  have  a  bridge,  on  account  of  the  ship 
ping.  They  expected,  when  they  made  the  Tun 
nel,  that  it  would  be  used  a  great  deal  by  persons 
wishing  to  cross  the  river.  But  it  is  found,  on 
trial,  that  almost  every  body  who  wishes  to  go 


THE    TUNNEL.  219 

The  stairs.  An  immense  well.  The  passage  ways. 

across  the  river  at  that  place  prefers  to  go  in 
a  boat  rather  than  go  down  into  the  Tunnel. 
The  reason  is,  that  the  Tunnel  is  so  far  below  the 
bed  of  the  river  that  you  have  to  go  down  a  long 
series  of  flights  of  stairs  before  you  get  to  the 
entrance  to  it ;  and  then,  after  going  across, 
you  have  to  come  up  just  as  many  stairs  before 
you  get  into  the  street  again.  This  is  found  to 
be  so  troublesome  and  fatiguing  that  almost 
every  one  who  has  occasion  to  go  across  the  river 
prefers  to  cross  it  by  a  ferry  boat  on  the  surface 
of  the  water  ;  and  scarcely  any  one  goes  into  the 
Tunnel  except  those  who  wish  to  visit  it  out  of 
curiosity. 

The  stairs  that  lead  down  to  the  passage  under 
the  river  wind  around  the  sides  of  an  immense  well, 
or  shaft,  made  at  the  entrance  of  it.  When  Mr. 
George  and  Hollo  reached  the  bottom  of  these 
stairs  they  heard  loud  sounds  of  music,  and  saw 
a  brilliant  light  at  the  entrance  to  the  Tunnel. 
On  going  in,  they  saw  that  the  Tunnel  itself  was 
double,  as  it  consisted  of  two  vaulted  passage 
ways,  with  a  row  of  piers  and  arches  between 
them.  One  of  these  passage  ways  was  closed  up  ; 
the  other  was  open,  and  was  lighted  brilliantly 
with  gas  all  the  way  through.  But  what  most 
attracted  Hollo's  attention  was,  that  the  spacea 
between  the  piers  all  along  the  Tunnel  were  occu- 


220  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Shopping  in  the  Tunnel. 

pied  with  little  shops,  each  one  having  a  man, 
a  woman,  or  a  child  to  attend  it.     As  Mr.  George 


SHOPPING    IN    THE   TUNNEL. 


and  Eollo  walked  along,  tho?o  people  all  asked 
them  to  stop  and  buy  something  at  their  shops. 


THE   TUNNEL.  221 

Souvenirs.  The  ball  room.  Hollo's  purchase. 

There  were  pictures  of  all  kinds,  and  little  boxes, 
and  views  of  the  Tunnel,  with  magnifying  glasses 
to  make  them  look  real,  and  needle  cases,  and 
work  boxes,  and  knickknacks  of  all  kinds  for  peo 
ple  to  buy  and  carry  home  as  souvenirs,  or  to 
show  to  their  friends  and  say  that  they  bought 
them  in  the  Tunnel. 

Besides  these  things  that  were  for  sale,  there 
were  various  objects  of  interest  and  curiosity, 
such  as  electric  machines  where  people  might  take 
shocks,  and  scales  where  they  might  be  weighed, 
and  refreshment  rooms  that  were  formed  in  the 
passage  way  that  was  not  used  for  travel ;  and  in 
one  place  there  was  a  little  ball  room  arranged 
there,  where  a  party  might,  if  they  chose,  stop 
and  have  a  dance. 

Rollo  and  Mr.  George  walked  through  the  Tun 
nel,  and  then  came  back  again.  As  they  came 
back,  Rollo  stopped  at  one  of  the  shops  and 
bought  a  pretty  little  round  box,  which  he  said 
would  do  for  a  wafer  box,  and  would  also  serve 
as  a  souvenir  of  his  visit  to  the  place. 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo  concluded,  after  ascend 
ing  again  to  the  light  of  day,  that  they  would  go 
home  by  water  ;  so  they  went  out  to  the  end  of  a 
long  floating  pier,  which  was  built,  as  it  hap 
pened,  exactly  opposite  the  entrance  to  the  Tun 
nel.  They  sat  down  on  a  bench  by  a  little  toll 


222  ROLLO    IN    LONDON. 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo  go  home  by  water. 

house  there,  to  wait  for  a  steamer  going  up  the 

river. 

"  It  must  have  been  just  about  under  here," 

said  Rollo,  "  that  I  bought  my  little  wafer  box  in 

the  Tunnel." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "just  about." 

In  a  few  minutes  a  steamer  came  along  and 

took  them  in.     She  immediately  set  off  again  ; 

and,  after  passing  under  all  the  London  bridges 

and  stopping  on  the  way  at  various  landings,  she 

set  them  down  at  Huugerford  stairs,  and  they 

went  to  their  lodgings. 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo  had  various  other  ad 
ventures  in  London  which  there  is  not  space 
to  describe  in  this  volume.  Rollo  did  not,  how 
ever,  have  time  to  visit  all  the  places  that  he 
wished  to  see  ;  for,  before  he  had  executed  half 
the  plans  which  he  and  his  uncle  George  had 
projected,  he  received  a  sudden  summons  to 
set  out,  with  his  father,  and  mother,  and  Jennie, 
for  Edinburgh. 


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